SUFFERING NOW — GLORY TO COME
Romans 8:18–30
Paul has just said that God's children are:
“Heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
— Romans 8:17
That introduces two ideas:
Suffering now.
Glory later.
Paul begins the next section by putting the two side by side:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
— Romans 8:18
Paul does not deny suffering.
He puts suffering in perspective.
What is coming is greater than what we are experiencing now.
CREATION IS WAITING TOO
Paul now widens the picture.
This isn't just about individual Christians.
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”
— Romans 8:19
Creation itself is waiting.
Waiting for what?
The revealing of God's children.
Something happened to creation because of sin.
And something is going to happen to creation when God's work of redemption reaches its goal.
CREATION WAS SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY
Paul continues:
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope.”
— Romans 8:20
That takes us back toward the beginning of the Bible.
Sin did not affect Adam and Eve alone.
The ground itself came under the curse.
Death entered the human story.
The creation in which we live bears the marks of a world affected by sin.
But notice Paul's final words:
“In hope.”
The story does not end with the curse.
CREATION WILL BE SET FREE
Paul says:
“The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
— Romans 8:21
Paul has been talking about freedom throughout this part of Romans.
Christians have been:
set free from sin,
and:
set free from the law of sin and death.
Now Paul says creation itself will one day be:
“set free from its bondage to corruption.”
God's saving work is moving toward something much larger than our present circumstances.
CREATION IS GROANING
Paul gives us a striking picture:
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”
— Romans 8:22
Why childbirth?
Because childbirth involves pain.
But the pain is moving toward something.
Something new is coming.
Paul does not describe creation as groaning in hopelessness.
It is more like the groaning of labor.
Pain with something beyond it.
AND WE GROAN TOO
Paul continues:
“And not only the creation, but we ourselves...”
— Romans 8:23
Creation groans.
Christians groan too.
Even Christians who have:
“the firstfruits of the Spirit.”
The presence of the Spirit does not mean that all suffering has already disappeared.
We still wait.
Paul says:
“We groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
That last phrase is important.
“The redemption of our bodies.”
WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?
Paul has already told us.
Back in verse 11:
“He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies.”
Now he calls it:
“The redemption of our bodies.”
Paul's hope is not escape from having a body.
It is the redemption of the body.
Resurrection.
God raised Jesus bodily.
And God's children await the redemption of their own mortal bodies.
ADOPTED — YET WAITING FOR ADOPTION?
Notice something interesting.
Back in verse 15 Paul said:
“You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons.”
But here in verse 23 he says:
“We wait eagerly for adoption as sons.”
Which is it?
We have received adoption.
And:
We are waiting for adoption.
Paul can speak of salvation as something already experienced while also pointing toward its future completion.
We belong to God now.
But we have not yet experienced everything God has promised His children.
Our bodies still die.
So we wait for:
“the redemption of our bodies.”
SAVED IN HOPE
Paul says:
“For in this hope we were saved.”
— Romans 8:24
Then:
“Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?”
Christian hope looks forward.
If we already possessed everything God has promised, hope would no longer be necessary.
But we don't see it all yet.
So Paul says:
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
— Romans 8:25
Christian hope is not wishful thinking.
It is patient expectation based upon what God has promised.
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO PRAY
Paul has told us that creation groans.
Then Christians groan.
Now there is another remarkable statement.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.”
— Romans 8:26
We are not strong enough on our own.
Sometimes we don't even know what to ask God for.
Paul says:
“For we do not know what to pray for as we ought.”
But:
“The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Notice the pattern.
Creation groans.
We groan.
And now the Spirit intercedes in our weakness.
We are not abandoned in our suffering.
GOD KNOWS
Paul continues:
“And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit...”
— Romans 8:27
God knows.
Even when we don't know what to pray...
God knows.
And:
“The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Our weakness does not prevent God from knowing exactly what we need.
“ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD”
Now we come to one of the best-known verses in Romans:
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good...”
— Romans 8:28
This verse is often removed from its context.
Paul has just been talking about:
suffering,
futility,
corruption,
groaning,
weakness,
and:
waiting.
So Paul cannot mean that everything that happens to us is pleasant.
Some things hurt.
Some things are terrible.
Some things make us groan.
Yet Paul says God is at work even in the middle of all of it.
But what does Paul mean by “good”?
The next verse helps us.
WHAT IS THE “GOOD”?
Paul continues:
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
— Romans 8:29
There is Paul's destination:
“Conformed to the image of his Son.”
Perhaps we should let Paul define the “good” of verse 28 before we define it for him.
The promise is not:
Everything will turn out the way I want.
The goal is much greater:
God is bringing His people toward conformity to Christ.
And Christ is:
“The firstborn among many brothers.”
Jesus' resurrection points toward ours.
The Firstborn will not be alone.
FOREKNOWN — PREDESTINED — CALLED — JUSTIFIED — GLORIFIED
Then Paul gives us a remarkable chain:
“And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”
— Romans 8:30
These words have generated enormous theological debates.
Foreknowledge.
Predestination.
Calling.
Justification.
Glorification.
Those discussions are worth having.
But before we bring a theological system to the verse, let's notice what Paul is doing with these words here.
He is encouraging suffering Christians.
He began:
“The sufferings of this present time...”
And he ends with:
“Glorified.”
Paul's emphasis is on the certainty of God's purpose.
Suffering does not mean God's plan has failed.
God knows where He is taking His people.
Toward glory.
NOTICE SOMETHING STRANGE
Paul says:
“Those whom he justified he also glorified.”
But hasn't Paul just told us that glory is still future?
Yes.
Verse 18 spoke of:
“The glory that is to be revealed.”
Verse 23 says we are still waiting.
Yet verse 30 speaks of glorification as though it were already accomplished.
Paul's confidence in God's purpose is so strong that he can speak of the future goal as accomplished.
The suffering is real.
The waiting is real.
But God's purpose is real too.
DON'T TURN ENCOURAGEMENT INTO AN ARGUMENT TOO QUICKLY
Romans 8:28–30 has often become a battleground over predestination.
Those questions deserve careful study.
But we should first hear these verses as Paul's original readers heard them in this paragraph.
They were not sitting in a theology classroom asking:
Which system of predestination is correct?
Paul has been talking about their suffering.
Their groaning.
Their weakness.
Their hope.
And he assures them:
God has not lost control.
His purpose reaches all the way to glory.
Before using this passage to construct a theological system, let the passage do what Paul is doing with it.
He is giving suffering Christians hope.
LOOK AT THE WHOLE MOVEMENT
Paul begins with:
Present suffering.
Then:
Future glory.
Creation groans.
Christians groan.
The Spirit helps.
We wait in hope.
God works.
God has a purpose.
And that purpose ends with:
Glory.
That is Paul's answer to suffering.
Not:
You won't suffer.
But:
Suffering will not have the last word.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
Ask the passage:
What is creation doing?
Groaning and waiting.
What are Christians doing?
Groaning and waiting.
What are we waiting for?
The redemption of our bodies.
Who helps us in our weakness?
The Spirit.
Does “all things work together for good” mean everything is pleasant?
No. The whole paragraph is about suffering.
What goal does Paul immediately mention?
Being:
“conformed to the image of his Son.”
Where is God taking His people?
Toward:
glory.
And now Paul asks one of the greatest questions in Romans:
“What then shall we say to these things?”
His answer will close this magnificent section of the letter.
NEXT: NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US
Romans 8:31–39
TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.
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