This is the thirty-first in a series of verse-by-verse expositions of the book of Romans. This message was delivered at Hillcrest Baptist Church on the morning of November 17, 2013. This message deals with both our suffering, and our rewards in Christ. This post contains an audio recording of my message, along with my sermon notes and a study outline. Please note that the sermon notes are not a full transcript.
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Romans 8:18-25
v.18: our suffering pales in comparison to our future rewards.
God doesn’t minimize our suffering, He doesn’t say “you don’t hurt,” He says “You WILL feel better than you ever have.”
We will share in the glory of Christ, but sharing in His glory in the future requires sharing “in His sufferings” in this life.
2Cor. 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
v.19: We earnestly wait for the revealing of the sons of God.
When Christ returns, and calls His people home, we will know who all of the “saved” are.
v.20: Futility (frustration, vanity, curse)
1. Futility because the creation is under a curse, and it is subject to decay and death.
2. The creation did not willingly enter into this state. Because of man’s sin, God placed it under a curse. (Necessary because of God’s righteousness)
3. The Same God who cursed the earth, subjected it to hope.
v.21: Corruption = decay
1. The creation will be delivered from the effects of decay and death (Both moral and physical)
2. This passage is clearly talking about a future hope.
3. We will be delivered into freedom. Freedom from sin and the effects of sin. (Decay and death).
Isaiah 11:5-9 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. 6 ” The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. 9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.
v.22: The entire creation suffers these effects of sin.
1. Man was given dominion over the creation.
Genesis 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
2. Therefore, his sin affected the entire creation.
Genesis 3:17-18 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
v.23: Even us, with the indwelling Holy Spirit, “groan in pain.” We wait for a physical release from sin, pain, suffering, disease and death. We wait for an escape from the battle between the old self and the new.
v.24: This “hope” is a promise! We may not be able to touch it or see it, but that is what makes it hope. And it is a hope that we can count on. (You can bet your life on it.)
We don’t hope for that which we already have. If it is right in front of you, why do you hope for it?
v.25: We are to patiently await the fulfilling of the promise.
1. We are to “watch and pray”
1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.
1 Thessalonians 5:6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
Luke 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
2. Watch and pray for the deliverance, the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Do you truly believe in the rapture?
Do you truly expect it to happen?
This was a motivating factor for Paul and the other apostles. They truly expected the Lord to return in their lifetime, and they strived to be ready.
They lived as if the Lord were returning at any moment.
They preached as if the Lord were returning at any moment.
We don’t do that anymore. Look at your life, and then ask yourself, “Do you really expect Christ to return?”
If you did, how much different would your life be?
If we truly believed that, how much different would the modern church be?
Do you trust and believe the Word of God, or not? It’s time to start asking that question.
Do you long for the return of Christ? Do you pray for it? Does your life demonstrate it?
Even so, Come Lord Jesus!
In Defense: The Blog 
ooyekunle
November 22, 2013
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