MPC 2nd July 2006.July 2 - Romans 8:18-39 - "No More Groaning"
Phil Campbell MPC 2nd July 2006.
It was Sunday evening, July 25th in 1993. Evening service at St James Church in Capetown, South Africa. St James is a multi-racial church committed to Bible teaching, and over the years it's grown. They were half way through the service, two singers had just finished a duet, when two men came in through a side door.
One had an automatic rifle. The other had a hand grenade attached to a tin of nails. At first people thought it was part of the service - they often had drama in church, and this looked like another one. It was only when the bullets started ripping through the congregation that they started to realise it was real. Marita Ackerman was one of the first hit. She died later on the way to hospital.
Gerard and Wesley Harker, young brothers, both died instantly. Denise Gordon, mother of a three year old daughter, was killed instantly. Five visiting Russian sailors were killed on the first time they'd ever been to a Christian Church service. Twelve people died, fifty three others were injured.
The attack lasted 30 seconds. And the whole of South Africa was stunned. It wasn't a religious attack. It wasn't even a racial attack. It was just out-and-out random terrorism. Senseless violence. You hear about it, and you just want to groan out loud. So senseless. So tragic. But that's the kind of world we live in. And Christians are not immune. We just want to cry out for things to be better.
Just this week. An eight year old girl in a shopping centre in Perth. Goes in to the toilet block. And in moments is raped and brutally murdered. In a way that's horrified the whole of Australia. So senseless. So tragic. Such an innocent kid. We can hardly believe it. And we groan.
I would rather live in a world where bad things happened to bad people. And good things happened to good people. I'd rather live in a world where only the Saddam Hussein types got cancer. And the rest of us didn't. Where the sort of guy who kills an innocent kid in a shopping centre is the one who faces unexpected tragedy and the rest of us don't.
I'd rather a world where the transformation started with fixing up that stuff. And the rest could come later. But that's not the way it is.
As we've worked our way through Romans, the Apostle Paul has been talking about transformation. And he says a revolution has come that the world has been waiting for right from the start. In a world that's gone so badly wrong, in a world that's bent on worshipping created things rather than the creator, in a world where he says even the Jews with their law from God are no better than anybody else... he says at last, God has acted to put things right. That in the death of Christ, and in the gift of the Holy Spirit, we're in a whole new era. Of transformed hearts and minds.
To which comes the objection, well, if this is the new era, how come we're still groaning?
Of course, these days you'll still meet Christians that tell you that we're not. They're the grin and bear it, power-of-positive-thinking brigade. The ones who'll tell you that if you're a real Christian, and you're living by the Spirit , you'll never get sick. You're going to meet people who tell you if you're a real Christian and if you're living by the Spirit, you'll never face tragedy. You're going to meet people who tell you that if you're a real Christian, you'll have a constant sensation that God's right there beside you. And life will be just like a stroll in the park with your good mate God. As if you're no longer living in a groaning world at all.
When according to Romans chapter 8, we still are. We've got the first fruits of the Spirit. But the best... is yet to come.
Let me tell you what Paul says. Verse 22. He says "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." If you've been in a labour ward you'll know what it's like. I remember the day our Nathan was born, it was Christmas morning, and the labour ward was packed. Blood curdling groans echoing up and down the corridors. And that was just the dads!
Paul says, its like the whole creation's groaning like a labour ward. And we Christians are not exempt.
Read verse 23. Because Christians don't get a free pass out the back door. "It's not just the creation groaning," says Paul. It's we Christians as well. "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."
Creation groans. We groan. And not only that, if you look down at verse 26, he says even God's Holy Spirit groans. When you're totally wrung out, when you've run out of prayer, he says the Spirit helps us in our weakness, and intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
You want to know what life's like? It's us groaning with the spirit groaning in a groaning world.
Which is a pretty black picture. Except for the fact that here in Romans 8, Paul puts it all in perspective.
You know, it's a funny thing. I remember in that hospital when Lou was in labour with Nathan, she looked at me, and she said, never again. But the funny thing was, about thirty seconds after this little tiny baby was born, she'd changed her mind. Oh, that wasn't so bad. All the pain was worth it.
And if you look again at what Paul's saying, it's exactly like that. Go back to verse 18. He says look, compared to the good things that are coming, the pain we're going through now isn't even worth talking about. He says "I consider our present sufferings are not even worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." He's talking about the joy that comes after the labour pains. He's talking about the new creation... when everything's going to be put right - the place of no more tears. The place where the frustration and decay we're living with here will be absolutely reversed. And he says, for the Christian, the pains of this world are like the pains of childbirth. It hurts. But there's something to look forward to.
And the thing we're waiting for, he says, the thing we Christians can look forward to, is what he calls "the redemption of our bodies." It's there in verse 23. Cause he says, we're groaning, cause we're trapped here in these bodies that are getting older, that are decaying, that are always getting colds and the flu, that always want to sin, that are caught up in the same bondage to decay as the rest of the world. And the day's coming when we're going to trade them in. And we're finally seen as what we really are. The children of God. His adopted kids.
See, life now isn't like a walk in the park with God. And if you think it is, you're kidding yourself. But Paul says... one day it will be. So look forward to that.
The Christian life is a future looking life. It's a life of hope. And we can handle our suffering in this life, cause there's a new birth to look forward to - that makes everything else fade into insignificance.
That's what he's saying in verse 24 and 25; he says the Christian life is not the life of we've got it already. And that's where so many Christians are kidding themselves; the Charismatic or Pentecostal idea that if you're a Christian you won't get sick, if you're a Christian you'll get rich; they're kidding themselves. Because Paul says, our eye's got to be fixed on something further ahead than that. Not on the already. But on the not yet.
He says for in this hope we were saved. Verse 24. "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have... we wait for it patiently."
If you're a Christian who's been knocked round a bit, if you're a Christian who knows what it means to suffer, hang on to that. Because the mature Christian is the Christian with a few knocks in the paintwork; a few rattles in the engine. Who's waiting patiently for what we don't yet have. Instead of boasting as if you've got it all already.
You know, somebody once made the comment that Christianity is just pie in the sky when you die bye and bye. That it's just an empty hope that things are going to get better... wishful thinking
I think it was the movie The Shawshank Redemption where there's a desperate scene. The new prisoner in the prison dining room, tin plate with his mashed potato and peas. And the old prisoner beside him says to the new guy, "In here, hope is a dangerous thing. It can drive a man mad. Cause in here, there's nothing to hope for."
Hoping when there's nothing to hope for is called futility. Hoping when there's nothing to hope for is avoiding reality. It's called kidding yourself. Paul's painted a picture of a time when there'll be no more bondage to decay. No more groaning. So why isn't it all just wishful thinking?
Well, he gives us an answer. He says you can be sure it's all going to pan out, you can be sure everything's going to work out for your good. Because you can look back and see what's happened already.
He starts in verse 28. And Romans 8 verse 28 is a bit like those classic catches you see on TV during cricket season; it's one of those classic verses that's worth remembering. Here's what it says: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
In other words, all things ultimately work out for the good of those who trust in Jesus. And he says to us, you can know that it's all going to pan out, whatever happens. Things might seem tough now... but God's in control. and you can know that, he says, if you look back. And see what God's done for you already. If you look back, and see how everything's unfolding according to plan. In verse 29 and 30 Paul stretches out a chain, it goes from before the start of time, to after the end of time. And at every point, he says, God's in control. And he's not going to let you go.
Because He knew you. Even before you were you. Because He predestined you. Which means he set your destiny in advance. And your destiny, he says in verse 29, is to be like Jesus.
It's an incredible thing he's saying. It's a huge picture of God. Sometimes we make ourselves a little God. We shrink him down to the sort of size we can handle. And some people get a bit uncomfortable with the sort of picture Paul's painting - that God's actually been in control of everything. Right from the start. With an aim of making you and me more like Jesus.
But that's what he says. And he keeps the chain going in the next verse - those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
And that's his big point. You know, he started off saying the stuff we suffer now is not worth comparing with our future glory. And here he's telling us our future glory's guaranteed. Cause God's in control. And he's called you, he's justified you; he's paid for your sins with the death of his son; and there's no way he's going to let you go now.
A lot of people turn the idea of predestination into a philosophical sort of game. And they say well, if God predestines, how come we're still held responsible? If God predestines, how come we're not just robots, or puppets? And yet that's not Paul's point. His point is, don't panic. Because you're in safe hands.
God's done everything needed so far. And he'll keep doing it to the end. It's not a philosophical debate. It's an incredible encouragement. Especially if you're doing it tough. To know that God is in control. And nothing can change that. Look at verse 31. Another classic catch sort of verse. What shall we say in response to this? In response to the fact that God's chosen us and he's predestined us and he's called us and he's justified us and he'll glorify us. What shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? That's what we'll say. "He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all - he's not going to let us down." Verse 33. "Who's going to bring any charge against those who God has chosen? It's God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?" He says your future is absolutely rock solid secure. Because God's in control.
Now remember what he's not saying. He's not saying when there's an earthquake, the Christians' houses will miraculously still be standing. He's not saying when there's an epidemic of bird flu, that Christians don't get sick and die like anyone else. He's not saying crazy terrorists won't bust into your church and start shooting. But he is saying nothing's going to seperate you from the love of Christ. Verse 35 to 39, that's what Paul says. And he knows what he's talking about first hand. Because he's faced trouble. And persecution. And danger. And the sword. I don't know if you know Paul's life story. You can read it sometime in the book of Acts. He had it easy. A top ranking Jew. Persecuting Christians. And he gave it all up. To become one. He was left for dead after he was stoned. He was smuggled out of town in a basket. He was whipped. He was thrown into prison. But he says, "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness or danger or the sword? As it is written, 'For your sake we face danger all day long: we're considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'"
But no - in these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I'm convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Paul says, Look back at God's track record. And then you can look forward with confidence. But be real. We're not back in the Garden of Eden. We're living in the middle of a suffering, groaning world. And we suffer with it. But the difference is, we've got something to look forward to. Because one day it all will be restored. And the groaning will be over.
You know, there's a word Paul uses three times in the passage we've just looked at. A word that's meant to describe the Christian life. It's an unusual word. You can see it back in verse 19. It's just one word in Greek. But it's translated in verse 19 as waits in eager expectation.
Same word in verse 23. He says, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. The original word Paul uses means stretching our necks. Like you're waiting for the train to appear in the distance, you're craning your neck, you're standing on tip-toes.
And it's there again in verse 25. Where our english translation just says, wait patiently. Where is should really be, stretching our necks, patiently. Cause we're so much looking forward to something better.
Have you met Christians like that? Usually they're the Christians who haven't got much. Because I guess they've learned the hard way that the world we live in is in bondage to decay. And they need to set their sights on something lasting. They're not caught up in the busyness of life; they're not caught up in having a good time. And they're not caught up in the delusion that the Christian life's going to be easy. Because I guess they know it hasn't been.
And yet they're absolutely certain... absolutely certain that nothing can separate them from the love of God. And rock solid in their hope.
I have to be honest and say part of me doesn't want to be like that. Part of me wants to pretend life's going to be easy. And we can get pretty good at that, can't we? Hiding the reality.
And yet in our church family this last week there's been bereavement in two families. There's been illness. There's been anxiety. There's been family turmoil. There's been financial hardship. There's been unexpected disaster. You've just got to read the prayer page of the bulletin, or be part of the prayer chain, and you know what it's like to be part of the struggle. Even if you're free from it right now.
Paul says the real Christian is the Christian who doesn't pretend. Who faces up to real life. But looks back at what God's done in the past. Who in the midst of the groaning, looks forward with absolute confidence - and says if God is for us... who can be against us? If God counts us innocent through the death of his son, who can condemn us?
And so we stretch our necks and look forward with patience. And with joy.