Groaning For Glory (Romans 8:15-30)
What does it mean to be a son of God? How many of us consider ourselves sons and daughters of the creator of the universe and everything in it? People around us might hear that and think we are crazy. Surely, this is a figment of our imagination. We are finite, weak, helpless, and ignorant. How could the creator want us in that way?
But, the last verses we looked at last week bring to light an amazing truth. The truth is that our new spirit is the spirit of a son because we are sons.
Reciprocal Relationship (15-17)
So, if we are truly sons and daughters, what does that mean for our relationship with God? Paul tells us it’s a reciprocal one.
Romans 8:15–17 (ESV) — 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
What does it mean to be a son of God? It means we can cry out to Him in our grief and He hears us. The words, “Abba! Father!” are the words spoken by Jesus in the garden on the night he was betrayed.
Mark 14:36 (ESV) — 36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
These two words express the relationship that Jesus had with God. He loved and respected God. He believed that God could help Him in His hour of need. He cried out for Him, but He also recognized and respected His will. In Roman’s, Paul wants us to see that we have the same closeness to God that Jesus has.
Then, Paul goes further. He says that if we too are children then that makes us joint heirs with Christ. We have the opportunity to share in his inheritance, authority, and glory. God doesn’t just want to save us from our sins and forgive us. He wants to change us from the inside out, he wants us to be close enough to call Him out Daddy, and He wants to exalt us as joint heirs.
This is a reciprocal relationship. We change to honor God and glorify Him. He, in turn, honors us with a position as sons and daughters, along with all the glory that comes with that position.
Suffering With Hope (18-25)
If I’m being honest, I haven’t always felt like I’m His son. When I suffer, I wonder if He sees or cares. Being a son of God does not guarantee a life of ease. In fact, verse 17 gives us the expectation that we will suffer. We are children of God, and yet we are made to suffer. I hate it when people around me suffer. I’ve experienced some pretty extreme feelings of grief and internal pain in my life. Most of it wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Sometimes things just happen in this life. The writer of Ecclesiastes said, “What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.” Ecclesiastes 1:15 (ESV) Becoming a Christian doesn't exempt us from the suffering of a fallen world. In fact, it gives us a new perspective on that suffering and a new kind of suffering—the pain of seeing the world through God’s eyes.
Romans 8:18–25 (ESV) — 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. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing 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 will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
There is suffering when becoming a child of God. It’s the suffering that all creation experiences. This text is referring back to the beginning, where Adam and Eve fell to Satan’s deception and opened the door for suffering of every kind. He depicts all creation as groaning in verses 19-22. They had it good in the garden, but now they suffer along with us. Creation is groaning in childbirth, waiting for the day when everything that is broken will be made new just like God foretold in Isaiah 66. The terminology he uses is futility and bondage to corruption which echoes back to Ecclesiastes.
Paul is telling us that, as we move toward the life of godliness, we share in creation’s suffering and in their hope. As a new heavens and new earth is promised where everything is changed. We are promised a new body. This is what we’re waiting for. But we suffer as we wait. We seek to be more godly and we seek for a more godly society, sharing in God’s suffering that He has had from the beginning. Now, we long for things that are broken to be fixed with greater understanding. This text says that part of our suffering is being subjected to futility. When we see the world as God sees it, we grow in wisdom and understanding of how broken everything is. The suffering that comes with being fully aware of how much Satan and sin have ruined this world is immense.
This past three weeks, a school shouting happened, an innocent girl was murdered for no reason, and a political activist named Charlie Kirk was assassinated. This violence and many other events have made many people feel a deep longing for all the bad things in this world to become untrue. We cannot make that happen, but God promises to bring us into that new world in the future. So we wait with hope.
In this text, Paul explains the suffering, but only to highlight the hope we have. Paul tells us that the sufferings of this time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us. There is coming a day when the sons of God will be fully revealed in all their glory. They will be seen as free from corruption and bondage to sin. Our bodies, so weak, tempted, and tried with sin will be redeemed, transformed, and revealed in splendor. Paul is telling us that God meets our suffering and grieving with hope that is as certain as any promise God has ever fulfilled. His message here about us being sons of God fills us with hope for the future. We are the only ones who have it. Men put their hope in a lot of things that will not save, but we have hope in God’s promise. We don’t see it yet, but we believe it to be true and we wait for it with patience.
The Path To Glory (26-30)
I’ve spoken to Christians who are groaning. But Paul’s next words are full of encouragement to keep your eyes fixed on the future glory. The worst thing we can do is give up on God or believe that our suffering means He has given up on us. That’s not who He is or what He does. This final section we are going to look at today tells us that God is right here with us all along the way.
Romans 8:26–30 (ESV) — 26 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 groanings too deep for words. 27 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. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
This text teaches us that in our weakest moments, when we don’t know how to pray as we ought to pray, and when we don’t know what God is doing in our lives, we can trust God to understand what we are going through and work all things together for our good. As I say these words, there may be a number of thoughts going through your minds. How does God do this? What does this mean for me? I want to address those because many people take this the wrong way.
- Paul is not saying everything has a reason.
- Paul is not saying that all things are really good things.
- Paul is not saying God will make everyone feel happy about everything that happens.
- Paul is not saying that each event in our lives will work out for our good.
The truth is that some things happen for no reason at all other than, “That’s what happened.” Freak accidents happen. Evil things happen. God lets them happen, but there is no guarantee that God had any purpose behind it at all. It could just be all part of living in a fallen world.
Paul says that all things work together for the good for those who love Him. That means God will use the compilation of all the events that happen to benefit . Don’t ignore the words “work together.” Some events by themselves have no value. In fact, they may be more of a detriment. However, other events have tremendous value.
Also, don’t ignore the qualifier, “those who love Him.” Those who do not love God will not have all things work together for their good.
But for those who do love God, we have a promise that God is working in our lives to bring good. What does that word “good” mean? Ultimately, we know that glory awaits those who are faithful to the end. But also, notice the words right after. He says, “For those whom He foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” The good he is talking about is once again, referring to the transformation of our character to be like God’s Son. We are being made good. Isn’t this what we hope for: God to sanctify us and make us like Him? Don’t doubt God wants to work in your life and bring you closer to His glorious image. Say, “Abba! Father! Let this cup pass. But let your will be done!”
Application
Being a child of God means conforming your hearts, thoughts, motives, and attitudes into the will and ways of God. Because we are sons and daughters of glory, we can endure suffering, we can pray in our weakness, and we can live like Christ. As we apply this to ourselves, I think it’s important for us to zone in on one particularly important phrase in this section of Romans. Paul says in verses 16-17, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”
There is a requirement placed on us. Sons and daughters have wonderful blessings and tremendous hope, but also an expectation. Being a son and daughter of God means we choose to suffer for God’s glory. No suffering, no glory. There is a cost to discipleship. There is a cost to bearing the image of Christ. Are you willing to pay the price to bear the image of Christ?
We all suffer in this life. Being God’s child doesn’t mean He keeps us from suffering. If He did that, He wouldn’t love us. The suffering we go through makes us groan, longing for a future home where these sufferings don’t exist anymore. They make us want to draw closer to God who knows this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. Don’t be deceived by Satan. The world is broken because of him and because of our poor decisions. Giving in to sin won’t take the suffering away. It will only make it permanent. God wants to save us from this broken world and transform us into agents of light who spread the hope of eternal life, joy, and peace to the lost world around us.