Well, it's become a bit of a national obsession, warning labels. Perhaps it started with the Surgeon General's label on the side of a pack of cigarettes, but it's become a bit of a national joke. We take warning labels to levels unconceived by the normal person. Buy a hair dryer, and you will be told not to use it in the shower. A person who's using a hairdryer in the shower has greater confusion than just about the nature of electricity. You look at a box of a package of Nytol, which is a sleep medication; it will warn you that it will make you drowsy.
Warning Labels
I was using some mints for years that had a warning label on them that I should not insert them in my eyes. I never had that desire. And yet, if you live in a fallen world, there are things to be afraid of. There are things to be concerned about. There are things that you need to be prepared for; you need to be warned. And Romans 8 is really one of those passages, if you would look there in your 'Order of Worship,' or page 944 in your church Bibles. There's a real way in which Romans 8, beginning with verse 18, is just one big warning label.
You live in a broken world; suffering will come. And so that you would not be caught up short, so that you would not be unprepared, so that you would not give up hope, so that you would not doubt Christ, this passage is in your Bibles. This is a warning label that we need. Notice what Paul does in this passage. Maybe you noticed that when it was read. Suffering can be a very isolated, individual experience. Often when you're going through suffering, it feels like no one could possibly understand what you're going through, and no one, because they can't understand, no one can come to you and make sense out of your experience or give you hope.
And in that cocoon, you're in a very dangerous place. And so what Paul is doing is, he is sort of lifting us up to give us the helicopter view of suffering so that we would understand things that you don't typically think about when you're in your particular moment of difficulty, and so that you would carry these things with you as you will be greeted in those moments of life with suffering. And very often you're unprepared for the suffering that you're going to face. And so this is God's gracious warning label.
Look at verse 18: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Could you say that? Is that the true confession of your heart, that whatever you're going through, no matter how grave, no matter how confusing, no matter how difficult, no matter how long-term, you understand that what you're now experiencing pales in comparison to the future that is promised for you? Well, if you can't say that, then you really need what follows, because what follows really makes sense out of that statement.
Here's the first thing that Paul does. Look at verse 22: "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning." He uses that term 'creation' a few times in the passage. Here's what he wants you to know. It's not just you; the whole creation is suffering. This world is now in a position of suffering; physical creation suffers. Everywhere you look, this world is groaning under the weight of its fallenness. This world is a terribly broken place. Nothing you will encounter actually operates the way it was intended to operate.
And so, it's not that I have somehow been singled out. Now, here's the problem for all of us. It's very tempting when you and I are going through suffering, to go dark, and there are typical things that we say to ourselves in those moments of darkness. Here's the first one: "I've been singled out for particular suffering. My life is more difficult and more grave than anybody I know." Well, the fact of the matter is that your suffering is your suffering, so you feel it more intensely. But perhaps, if you began unpacking people stories, you wouldn't want to switch stories.
And it's very tempting to go there to think that somehow, some way, my situation is more difficult than what's around me. Paul says, "No! No! No! No! This is a universal condition. Everything in this world is suffering the effects of the fall." Here is the second thing. "Perhaps this is God's personal punishment of me. I know what God is doing; God is punishing me." And there is no indication in this passage that that's what's going on at all. Paul says, "No! No! No!" This is the general condition of this moment of the cosmos.
This world is groaning; it will not operate the way it was intended to operate, and because of that, your life, at moments, will be difficult. Maybe there's a third thing that you're tempted to say to yourself: "God has turned His back on me. He doesn't hear my prayer anymore." Well, we are going to see this passage argue against that very powerfully. The reason Paul says, "The whole creation is groaning," is so we would understand we haven't been singled out. This is not personal punishment. This is not God's rejection.
A Constant Conversation With Yourself
This is the general condition of life in the here and now. Now why is that an important place to begin? Because as I have said to you before, and I will continue to repeat: "You are in a constant conversation with yourself." And the things you say to you about you, the things you say to you about God, the things you say to you about your world are profoundly important; your thoughts always precede and determine your activity. And so, you need to have these kinds of perspectives breaking in, interrupting your personal conversation so that your personal conversation becomes growingly more biblical, so in those moments of suffering, you can say good, Gospel things to yourself.
It's very important. And there'll be moments where nobody that's part of that conversation, you know those moments when you're lying in bed, and you're rehearsing your life, no one's there to mentor you in that moment. It's very, very important that growingly your thinking is infected by the truths of God's Word, so you can say the right things to yourself in those moments. It's the whole creation that's suffering; you have not been singled out. Second thing Paul would say is that this suffering is not an interruption of the plan.
It is the plan. It's tempting to think, "Oh, No! What's happened with God's plan? Where is He? Where's His grace? Where is His power? The world looks like it's going in the wrong direction. Oh, no!" Notice what he says here, verse 20: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children God. Now, we all experience the two things that Paul mentions.
We experience the futility of this world. The fact that things are broken and don't work; sometimes it's so frustrating; sometimes it feels like you ought to just quit trying. For all of your good efforts, it blows up in your face again. I love the way that is captured in Psalm 73, as Asaph says, "Surely for no reason have I kept myself pure. I've obeyed for this?" Now, let me think. I've followed God, and this is my reward? It just seems futile. The world is subjected to decay; things die around us; we're used to death.
It's just everywhere around us. And, yet, Paul says this radical thing, "These things that we experience are the result of God's sovereign rulership over his world". What does that mean? Well, Paul points to two things here, one is more subtle than the other. First of all, this condition of fallenness, this futility and decay, are meant by God to be judicial. The world is meant, the fallenness of the world is meant to operate as a constant reminder that things have a consequence, that we live in a moral world.
Listen! We need that reminder. You can't choose to do whatever you want to do. And you see that very clearly in that horrible moment in Genesis, where Adam and Eve, in an act of selfishness and arrogance and rebellion, refused to obey God. Sin has consequences. This world is ruled by somebody who is awesome in His power, who is unchallenged in His glory, who is holy in every way, and His law is His will, and there are consequences to disobeying Him. And, literally, every day, you are faced with the consequences of disobedience to God.
And that reminder is meant to change you; it's meant to echo in your ears. It's meant day after day after day after day till you finally get it. You say, "I get it; all of the ways of the Lord are right and true. I will run my life on His tracks." I need that reminder because I'm like you; I'm a little self-sovereign. I want to set my own boundaries. I want to do it my way. I want to think I'm wiser. I want what I want. And, I need the reminder in my face that sin leads to death. Is there a message that is more important for the culture outside these doors than that message?
Morally Sensitive and Alive
We don't think that there's such a thing as sin anymore, let alone that sin leads to death. And as a congregation, we need to be people who are morally sensitive, and morally alive, and morally committed, and we take this sense of a holy God and a moral world out to the world that we meet with every day. And if only once, you are led to help a person see the moral nature of the world, and to fall in fear of God, and cry out for redemption in Christ Jesus, your life has been worth living. It's a moral world.
Second, he says that this futility and decay is meant to be redemptive. It actually is meant to produce hope because it teaches us what we can trust. This death and futility is meant to drive us to hope in Christ. And this world will be liberated, and will be re-created, and will be restored, and all things will be new again. And I let go of my hope in anything but the One who rules His world who has the power to subject it. My hope is in God and God alone. The world cries out every moment of pain, every moment of discouragement, every moment of futility, every moment of hopelessness is a cry for a Savior.
Paul says a third thing here, verse 23: And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruit of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. What are you hoping for? Where is your hope placed? If I would again watch the video with you over your last six weeks, what would I say your hope is in?
When does your heart feel secure? When do you have that inner sense of well-being? When do you feel motivated; when do you feel alive; when do you feel content; when do you feel satisfied; when do you feel happy? What is it that gives you hope? Look back at verse 20; let me read a little bit there: For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Now, here's a third thing he says that is meant to give us hope, that this pain that we all now go through is a portal to life. The example is childbirth; the pain of childbirth is painful. Now, I can only say that by observation, not by personal experience. I want all of you women to know that I understand that. But that pain is a very different pain than the pain that someone knows is going to result in death.
It's pain with an expectancy; it's pain with a willingness; it's pain with a hope. If I could say it, it's pain that's infused with joy. Because what Paul is saying is, "This creation, this created world is going through this birthing process that will result in glorious, eternal life, life that never ends, life where all of the suffering is over, and all of the pain is over, and all of the sin is over, and all of the discouragement, and all of the hopelessness, and everything that was part of that experience of pain is forever gone."
And on, and on, and on, and on, and on into eternity, we will experience that glory. You see, we cannot, we must not, we should not live as if this is all there is. You can't treat this moment as ultimate. Hear this. Here is what Paul is saying, "This moment that you're living in was never created to be a destination. It's created to be a passageway; it's created to be preparation for a destination." You are in trouble if you treat it as a destination. And I think that's what we want; we want; we want to be able to live with the destination mentality; we want ultimate happiness, ultimate joy, ultimate satisfaction now.
If you're God's child, that experience is guaranteed you, but it's not yours now, because you need, with joy and expectancy, to go through this passageway. That's part of God's plan for you. It's part of His will for you. That's part of how He prepares you for the glory on the other side. This moment is not ultimate. This moment is not a destination. This is a passageway to a destination. Now that is a good thing to say to yourself because there will be moments where it seems like your pain will not end; it seems like a confusion that will not end.
Part of the Plan of God
It seems like you have no ability to get yourself out of what you're experiencing. And that's where you need to say, "I am moving because I'm part of the plan of God, and there will be a day, as much as it's hard for me to understand right now, there will be a day when this seems light and momentary." Brothers and sisters, there are some of you in this room tonight, you need to grab ahold of that with both hands and believe that you are a person in motion because, by grace, you have been included in this plan.
There is a fourth thing that Paul says that is very sweet and very encouraging. It's captured there in verses 26 and 27. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. This moment is part of God's plan; you haven't been singled out for particular suffering.
All of creation suffers. The pain of this moment is a passageway to life, life eternal. This is not a destination. And then Paul says, "You are never alone in your suffering." The Spirit of God is with you. Hear the Gospel. This is so amazing that God didn't just forgive us. Praise Him for His forgiveness. I hope that statement didn't minimize at all. Praise God for His forgiveness, but not only did He forgive us, He literally gets inside of us by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God, if you are God's child, now lives inside of you.
God has made you the place where He dwells. That means it is absolutely impossible for you ever to be alone in any experience of life. See, this theology that we embrace are not just to be abstract truths that we make sure we can recite, they're meant to change you, change the way you think about life, change the way you act. Think about this. God is with me where ever I go because God, in the glory of His grace, has come to make me the place where He dwells. "God's with me! God's with me! God's with me!
God's with me!" You head toward the doctor on Tuesday morning, and you know you're going to hear crushing news about your physical condition. Preach the Gospel to yourself. "God is with me! God is with me! God is with me!" You hear devastating news about something that's going on in the life of one of your children that you deeply love. You wish, at that moment, you could be the Messiah and reach into the heart and change that person's heart, but you know you can't. You're confronted with your utter helplessness, but you say, "God is with me!
God is with me! God is with me!" You face mockery and persecution because you're committed to do what is right, and it seems like you don't have the strength to deal with it. You must preach the Gospel to yourself. "God is with me! God is with me! God is with me!" And as Paul talks about that, he gets very specific about the ministry of the Spirit. Look at the words: "For we do not know what to pray for as we ought." Sometimes you just don't know what to pray for. And the reason, brothers and sisters, you should not feel shamed by that, the reason you don't know what to pray for is because you are not privy to the secret will of God.
You don't actually know what God's going to do next. And let me say this. Your job is not to figure that out. God's secret will is called, "His secret will," because it's secret. You are relieved of that responsibility. Isn't that great? I do not have to plan today by some kind of figuring out of what God is going to do tomorrow. Please don't try that. Warning label! Put it on the edge of your Bible. Live by God's revealed will. His secret will is secret. And so, there are times when the most deeply theological prayer is to say, "God, I don't know what to pray for, but you do."
The Spirit Prays for Me
And the Spirit that is in me, "Oh, Spirit, would you pray on my behalf because I don't know how to pray?" What a beautiful comfort that is. Rather than, "God's not going to receive my prayer unless I have intelligently figured out things that have not been revealed." And what if I pray something that's not His will? Be relieved. The Spirit has been given because we sometimes don't know how to pray. Thank you, Lord. Second thing: There will be moments when you're too weak to pray, when the emotion is so great, and the pain is so present, and the weakness is so with you that all you can do is groan; God will never turn His back on your groaning because His Spirit grabs that groaning, and takes it to the Father, and by the time it reaches there, there is an intelligent request carried by the Spirit.
Praise God! My mom tells the story, well, she's with the Lord now; she told the story of dark days when my brother, Mark, was far from the Lord; by God's grace, God rescued him. And her heart was so grieved. She said, "Paul, I would try to pray, and I couldn't get words out." And she said, "I kneeled next to my bed, and the minute I thought of him, I would begin to just weep. I couldn't stop my weeping. I would say, "Oh, God, Mark. Oh, God, Mark. Oh, God, Mark. Oh, God, Mark. Oh, God, Mark. Oh, God, Mark."
Well, the Spirit of God has no trouble making sense of that prayer. God hears. Psalm says, "God will never turn a deaf ear to the cries of his people." And then, the final thing that Paul says about that intercessory work of the Spirit is that the Spirit, knowing us and knowing the will of God, prays for us in accordance with God's will. The Spirit is aware of the plan and prays for us, prays on our behalf, according to the will of God. You see, maybe the lie of the enemy is: "This is all futile.
Maybe what you believed is not true after all. Maybe God doesn't exist. Maybe His Word isn't true. Maybe He doesn't really love you." And Paul is marshaling for us arguments against that. The creation suffers. It's not just God singling me out. It's not God personally punishing me. It's not God rejecting me. And this subjection of the creation to futility and decay is judicial; it reminds me that I live in a moral world; sin has consequences, and because of my fickle heart, because of my desire to rule my life, I need that reminder again, and again, and again.
This subjection is redemptive. It's result in firm hope in God because I become to realize these truths that we have sung many times, "On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand," the most permanent thing will not end up failing you. And this third thing that this is not ultimate; this moment is not eternal, this is a passage; this is not a destination; this is preparation for a final destination. And finally, I am never, ever, ever alone. I have a shocking reality of redemption.
God now lives inside of me, and that Spirit intercedes for me; He carries my prayer; He carries my groanings. He speaks on my behalf according to the will of God. He is my constant friend and my constant advocate. Why can we find hope? Because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of these things are real and true of me. I have, by grace, been included in God's plan. I could've never earned it or achieved it or deserved it. It's grace that has included me.
And that Lamb was willing to subject Himself to this world, to live in the middle of its futility to actually experience its death so that I would have life and hope that is absolutely eternal. And in moments when I am weak, and in moments when I am confused, I do not lose hope because the plan marches on, ruled by a sovereign God; His Spirit is with me, carrying my needs to the One who rules it all by His glory and grace. Let's pray: Lord, we would confess that we are the weak people of this passage.
We are easily overwhelmed; we are easily confused by what You, in the glory of Your wisdom, and sovereignty, and grace are doing. We are easily tempted to doubt. And so, we thank you for the encouragement of this passage that teaches us how to think about the here and now, to understand this world hasn't exploded into chaos, but it is operating according to the plan, to understand that this moment isn't an ultimate. This isn't the destination. This is a passageway to wonderful, everlasting life in the new heavens and the new earth, to know that in the most individual moment of suffering, we are not alone because You are with us, and You bear our cries to the Father. Thank you. We thank you for the hope that we can find in You and You alone. In Jesus name, Amen.
