This week, Pastor Chris continued in our Romans series with a message about how the promise of eternity gives us hope in the struggles of today. Life can be difficult and painful, but Scripture describes a future for the believer that is better than anything we can imagine. The joy, peace and beauty of eternity with Jesus gives us hope in life’s trials and difficulties!
1. Vibrant Hope in the Midst of Affliction
Romans 8:17–18 (ESV)
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. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Philippians 3:8 (ESV)
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Romans 8:19 (ESV)
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
Revelation 20:4–6 (ESV)
Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
Romans 8:20–21 (ESV)
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 corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
Isaiah 11:6–9 (ESV)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah 55:12 (ESV)
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
2. Pains of Childbirth
Romans 8:22–23 (ESV)
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 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.
Like Creation We Also Groan…
• Our spirits have already been redeemed (Romans 8:2).
• On that day our bodies will finally be redeemed as well (1 Cor. 15:51–57).
• We will live in an environment filled with the intense presence of the Spirit (Matt. 6:10).
3. Patient Hope
Romans 8:24 (ESV)
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
Faith and Hope
• Faith is the confidence that God will keep His promises.
• Hope is focused on God’s future kingdom, the day when the blessings of our salvation fully arrive.
Titus 2:12–13 (ESV)
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV)
as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Romans 8:25-27 (ESV)
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 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. 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.
4. God’s Ultimate Goal
Romans 8:28-30 (ESV)
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 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. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Reasons People Refuse God’s Call
1. The main reason people reject God’s call is pride (Mt. 11:20).
2. People refuse to acknowledge their spiritual need or humble themselves.
3. People consider themselves “wise and intelligent” and look down on God’s message as something that is only fit for “infants” (Mt. 11:25).
4. People compare themselves to others and consider themselves to be morally superior and therefore not in need of God’s mercy (Lk. 18:10–14)
5. People become so busy with the pleasures and cares of this world that they lose interest in preparing themselves for the next (Lk. 14:15–24).
Two major theological interpretations of, “those whom God foreordained” (literally: “marked out with a boundary beforehand”).
View One:
- Refers to those specific individuals He decided to save before they were born, or even before the world was made. If that were true, then it would also mean He decided whom He would not save.
- In theory that plan would work like this: as the years flow by God selects those individuals out of each generation whom He has foreordained to salvation.
- Then He calls them to Himself with a calling they cannot resist, forgives their sins and then in the future will resurrect them.
- Those whom He has not foreordained remain under judgment during their lifetimes and then suffer forever after they die. It is felt that this view of God honors Him by affirming His complete, sovereign control over His creation.
View Two:
- Before God made the world, He prophetically saw all those who would someday be saved.
- He didn’t determine person by person which individual would be saved, but rather He determined what a person must do to be saved, and He foreknew (saw beforehand) who would respond appropriately.
- This second way of understanding sees His “calling” as a genuine invitation to all humans, but since He requires us to come to Him on His terms, not ours, and since His way greatly conflicts with human pride because He requires repentance and faith, many refuse His call.
- This means that what He foreordained was that a great family would be created, made up of people who are holy in character and resurrected in body like His Son.
- To produce this family, He issued a call to the human race to come to Him by means of repentance and faith. This call has been given to every generation from Adam and Eve onward (Ge 3:9), and in every generation there are those who accept it and those who reject it.
Discussion Questions:
- How does the concept of future glory shape your perspective on present struggles?
- How can the messages in Romans 8 strengthen your faith in times of doubt?
- We live in an “already/ not yet” reality; are there promises you are praying the Lord to brings into fruition? Share with your group and encourage one another in the waiting.
- How does Romans 8:28 affirm God’s purpose in your life? How Does it challenge or change your view of trials in your life?
(Questions from https://biblehub.com/questions/romans/8.htm)
Application Questions:
- Pastor Chris encouraged us to prayer this prayer this week, “Holy Spirit, intercede for me!”
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