Romans 8:12-25
Consequently then, Brothers and Sisters, debtors we are, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh For if according to the flesh you are living, you are going to be dieing, but if by the spirit, you are exterminating the works of the body, you will be given life. For as many as are lead by the spirit of God, these are the sons and daughters of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to go back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption when we are crying out, “Abba, father” The spirit itself is testifying to our spirit that we are children of God and since children, also heirs, indeed heirs of God, co inheritors of Christ, if indeed we are suffering with him, in order that we might be glorified with him For I believe that the sufferings of this present time are not equivalent to the glory that will come to be revealed to us For the eager expectation of Creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of the children of God For creation was subjected to purposelessness, not of its own free will but through the one who subjected it, on account of hope also that creation itself will be set free from the slavery of corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God For we are knowing that all creation is moaning and suffering together until now and not alone, but we who are having the first fruit of the spirit, we ourselves are groaning in ourselves for the adoption we are expecting, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we are saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who is hoping in what is being seen? but since we are hoping in that which we can not see, through waiting patiently we patiently wait
When you turn on the news what do you hear? Murder, breaking and entering, robbery, death. Where is the hope to be found in our society today? Is there any good news to be found? If we live as Paul tells us in the spirit than we have hope in what will come, but how does that play out in our lives?
Let me tell you a few stories. There were a mother and a father that had a 4 year old boy. They were very protective parents and watched their son like a hawk. Well over this past 4th of July weekend, there was a lot of commotion and the father was trying to get some yard work done and was cutting the grass. And the mother was busy inside taking care of things that needed to be done. The boy did what all boys will do and went to play video games. Well the only problem with this is he got into a car that was all shut up. No open windows and he shut the door behind him. The father thought the mother was watching their son, and the mother thought the father was watching their son. And the son was in a car in the hot sun, playing video games, and was over come by the heat and died. Where is the hope in this situation? What do these parents have to cling to? Who is moaning and suffering with them in this time of great lose and suffering. Or how about another family, the parents of another 4 year old boy. This time the father is a doctor and usually does not take their son to the daycare center. But this morning is a different morning and for what ever reason the mother is just not able to take their son to the daycare center. So the father straps their son into the car seat and heads off as usual. Now the boy is just quite, maybe he fell asleep, or maybe he was just not very talkative, or maybe his father was busy talking to the office on his cell phone and the son just did not want to interrupt. For what ever reason though, the father got caught up in his usual daily routine and forgot his son was in the car. Remember it was not usual for him to drop his son off at daycare. The father went to work, and the son sat on the back of the car all day in the hot sun. This has the same tragic ending as the first story. The boy died, and here the father is charged with 2nd degree manslaughter. Where is the hope? Who is moaning with this father and this mother, who is groaning in their pain? And what about yet another couple who are trying to have kids, the time is right, we are ready for kids they say. And they finally get pregnant. But then 10 weeks in disaster strikes, and the baby is lost to a miscarriage. What did they do wrong, was it because they were out on the hot sun on the 4th of July at a picnic? They made sure they drank lots of water… Why did this happen, who is groaning with them? Who is suffering with them? The couple goes on with their quest for children, because the time is still right and they are still saying they are ready to have children. And within 8 months of the last miscarriage, there are issues that need to be checked out by her doctor, and they discover they had another miscarriage. Where is the hope for this couple? Who is moaning and groaning with them, and who is suffering with them? How can these three families live in the hope of the expected liberation of all creation, and not live in the fleshly suffering of their situation. Death, crime, violence it seems is all that permeates our news casts and fills our societies? How can we claim the glorious freedom of the children of God we are entitled to as Paul tells us?
Paul says that we did not receive a spirit of slavery to remain constantly in fear, but we have been adopted as children of God, and if children then heirs to the kingdom, fellow heirs with Christ to the kingdom of his and our father in heaven. We will suffer with him, but we have obtained the inheritance of a life time. And Paul continues to say that the sufferings of this time, the things we experience now, be that pain and suffering, are in now way comparable with the glory that will be revealed to us in the liberation redemption of us in the coming of the kingdom of God. We hope in what we can not see, the heirs to the kingdom, hope in the kingdom that we can not see. If we could see the kingdom, and had already realized our inheritance would we need to hope in it? But even though we can not see it we can rest assured and trust in God to uphold his promises to us. Yet Paul also says that creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of the children of God, and is moaning and suffering, or is having labor pains. Creation itself is groaning for the coming of the children of God, creation is eagerly awaiting the liberation and redemption of the children of God and for the liberation and redemption for all of creation. The coming of the kingdom, but is creation moaning and groaning alone? No!! We are moaning and groaning and suffering with all of creation, and just why is that? Is it because the suffering is so bad, or this world is so corrupt and has lost all purpose? By no means Paul would say to us. Creation is moaning and groaning for the coming of the kingdom, not because life here is so bad, but because life then will be so good. We moan and groan for the coming of the kingdom of God, because there is no comparison to the kingdom to what we see now. The suffering will be so out done by the glory that will be revealed there is need to moan for the coming of the liberation and redemption of all creation. Yet Paul would say we moan because we have obtained glimpses and portions of the coming glory. We are already in the kingdom of God, yet we are not fully in the kingdom of God. We live in the already but not yet of the coming kingdom of God. The hope we have in the life in the spirit secures for us the salvation promised to us through the death on the tree and resurrection of our savior and brother. We have secured the promise that the spirit testifies to us daily. We our groaning heirs to the kingdom of God. Yet where is the hope all around us, every where we look it seems we see nothing but pain and hurt, suffering and agony. It is the hope we live in that helps us await the full coming of the kingdom. Paul said for I believe that the sufferings of this present time are not equivalent to the glory that will come to be revealed to us. And today I can stand before you as the husband of the woman who had 2 miscarriages within a years time and say that hope exists even in the darkest times of our lives, because the spirit continually reminds us that God is the one we belong to, and we are heirs to his kingdom and can trust in the promises made through Jesus Christ our savior. As Isaiah tells us in chapter 44 I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one. As Jesus explains to the disciples in the explanation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds, the angels of God will remove all suffering and causes of evil in the culmination of the kingdom of God. We are living with the weeds, yet we live in the hope that God will not renege on his promises. And we receive the same promise in Psalm 86 that even though the insolent rise up against me and ruffians seek my life, God will give us strength and is faithful in his promises. All creation groans and moans with us in our suffering, and we can hope in the promise the spirit reminds of us, we are heirs to the kingdom of God, children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus. Groaning heirs live in the hope and the promise that God will call us as Eddie Carswell says, “Arise my love the grave no longer has a hold on you, no more death sting, no more suffering, arise my love.” No more suffering as the glory overcomes everything we know. Groaning heirs, groan for the coming kingdom, and live in the hope the promises will be fulfilled. Amen.
aSacredRebel 