Sermon Tone Analysis

*Romans 8:18-25 *

/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 waits eagerly 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, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

24 For in hope we have been 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 wait eagerly for it./

Verse 17. “If you are children of God, then you are heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ, /if you suffer with him/, in order that you might be glorified with him.”

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/.

The sum of it all is this: “It’s worth it.”

In other words, whatever suffering may be necessary in your life as a believer, it’s worth it in view of what you will gain if you trust the man Christ Jesus – and what you will lose if you don’t.

This means that the main point of verses 18-25 is to give us hope and to encourage you.

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Verses, 18-25, are meant to help us persevere in faith and not throw away our hope, but to stand firm with Christ in all the frustrations and hardships of life.

Don’t throw away your hope in Christ when you suffer, because it’s worth it and will surely lead to glory.

That’s the point of these verses.

Verse 18 states the point: /“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.”/

That’s what Paul wants us to believe with all our hearts.

And you need to believe it in your heart and not just your head, because when the sufferings come it will take a deep, deep conviction and hope not to throw in the towel.

You will be tempted to say: “If this is the payoff for trusting Christ, I’m done.”

If that were not a real temptation, Paul would not write this paragraph.

He is writing to help us not throw away our hope in Christ when the miseries and groanings of this present time are overwhelming.

And God has inspired this section of Scripture so that you will be ready and able to fight the fight of faith and not be conquered by despair or unbelief.

So how do these verses strengthen our faith and deepen our hope so that we won’t be shaken by hardships and suffering?

*Our Suffering in a Global Context*

As God would see fit He puts our suffering into a global context.

To me that’s extraordinary, I say extraordinary because if we were looking for help with my suffering, that might not be the way we would go about getting relief or strength to endure it.

But in the strategy and the wisdom of God, this is what we need to know about our suffering so that we can say with Paul: it’s worth it.

We can endure it.

So we find help in our sufferings by putting them in a global context.

There are three ways that Paul puts our suffering in a global context.

Let’s look at them one at a time.

*First,* he shows us that all creation is involved in groaning, frustration, and corruption, and suffering.

He says it three times in three different ways.

Verse 22: “For we know that /the whole creation/ groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

The “whole creation” is groaning.

In other words, don’t think that when you suffer it has to do only with you and your personal situation.

You are part of a groaning that the whole creation experiences.

Verse 21: “/The creation itself/ also will be set free from /its slavery to corruption/ into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Notice: It says that, the creation is in slavery to corruption.

Your groaning and your suffering in this world are part of a universal slavery to corruption.

Your suffering is not merely personal.

There is a much bigger explanation for it.

It is part of something global.

There is in the world of nature a decay, a ruin, a perishing.

There’s something out of order and harmful about it all.

It’s not just you.

We have to be careful of thinking of all your suffering as if it all has to do with something you did individually.

Verse 20: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.”

Notice: it’s the creation that is in the grip of futility.

Not just mankind, and not just you.

So the first thing Paul does to put our suffering in a global context and give us perspective and help us endure is to show us that all of nature is involved in this suffering that we must endure to inherit with Christ.

 

2.

Second:,  Paul shows us that all this suffering not only grips all of nature, it grips all of our present history –in verse 18 Paul says: “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.” Paul calls it “this present time”

throughout this passage you can see our suffering in “time” references.

For example, verse 20: “For the creation /was subjected/ to futility.”

There is a historical event in the past long ago.

Then verse 21: “The creation itself /will be/ set free.” There’s the end point of the suffering in the future.

So between the distant past and the indefinite future, all of history is part of this suffering and groaning.

So don’t think that you or your family or your time are necessarily singled out for suffering.

This groaning and corruption and futility have been in the world for all of history, and will be till Jesus comes again.

lets, Look at verse 20 again: /“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.”/

What is he referring to?

Please don’t miss this, this is critical, because this is the most important point so far.

Paul is referring here to God’s action, it’s Gods action that subjecting the creation to futility and groaning and corruption.

How do we know it was God that he is referring to?

How do we know it was not Adam by his sin, or Satan by his temptation of Adam and Eve?

We know this because of the words “in hope” at the end of verse 20: “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, /in hope/.”

Adam did not subject the world to futility /in hope/.

Adam had no plan for the revelation of the children of God in due time.

Satan did not subject the world to futility /in hope/.

Satan had no plan for the revelation of the children of God in due time.

The person referred to in verse 20 is God: /“The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope,” /namely, God.

In other words, Paul is talking about the same thing he referred to in Romans 5:12: /“Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”/

When Adam sinned, death and suffering and futility and groaning came into the world.

Why?

Because God said it would.

Eat of this tree and you will die.

Since the fall, futility is built into the universe.

*#3* is that the futility and corruption and groaning of the creation are judicial, not just natural.

They are a divine, judicial decree, not just a natural consequence of material events.

That’s a very important truth to understand.

God decreed the futility and corruption and groaning of the world in response to sin.

It is a judicial act, not just a natural consequence.

It is amazing how many Christians are so desperate to remove God from the suffering in the world that they are willing to become “deists” in order to keep God out of the equation.

A deist was a person who thought of the universe as created by God and set in motion by God but God then does not interfere with how it runs.

No divine interference.

Everything was explained in terms of merely natural laws, not divine decrees.

Deism was especially influential in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The saints of God obviously haven’t received comfort from that vision.

Probably because It is not a biblical vision.

The biblical vision is given in verse 20: /“The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope.”/

The condition of the world today – its futility and corruption and groaning—are due to the judicial decree of God in response to sin.

Therefore, the meaning of all the misery in the world is that sin is horrendous.

All natural evil is a statement about the horror of moral evil.

The meaning of futility and the meaning of corruption and the meaning of our groaning is that sin – falling short of the glory of God—is hideous, repulsive beyond imagination.

the point of our miseries, our futility, our corruption, our groaning is to teach us the horror of sin.

And the preciousness of redemption and hope.

So let me sum up what we have up until now and then relate it to our personal suffering.

Three ways Paul puts our sufferings in a global context.

•     First, he shows that the futility and corruption and groaning of the world is a judicial decree of God, not just a fluke or a law of nature.

God subjected the creation to futility.