Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 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. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
More Than Conquerors
28 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. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.
My Understanding: In summarizing the first seventeen verses of Romans 8, for the purpose of context, it must be understood that verses 18-39 are thus applied to those who:
• are in Christ Jesus
• the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death
• do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit
• are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit
• (whose) body is dead because of sin, yet whose spirit is alive because of righteousness
• by the Spirit put to death the misdeeds of the body
• led by the Spirit of God
• are not slaves to fear
The Midnight Hour is often a phrase used to depict the time when Jesus will return for his bride, but also it is a time when he will judge and will separate those who are ready to meet him from those who are not ready (See Matthew 25, The Parable of the Ten Virgins).
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’”Half of the virgins were ready with their oil lamps full, but the other half were not ready when the bridegroom returned. The virgins who were ready for his return went with him to the wedding banquet and then the door was shut. Those who were not ready came to the door and asked to be let inside, but the Lord told them that he never knew them. Obviously, they were under the impression that God did know them, but he did not.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”I believe the Lord is giving me a picture here that it is “about midnight,” so we need to wake up from our deep slumber, and we need to have our oil lamps full and ready to meet our bridegroom so that we can go with him to the wedding banquet when he returns. And, this second half of Romans 8 speaks much of this subject of Jesus’ return and what it will be like until he does come back for his bride.
For one thing, while we are still on this earth and in these fleshly bodies, we will face suffering of many kinds – physical pain and ailments; heartache; sorrow; friends and loved ones who will fail us and/or who will reject and/or mistreat us; dampening of or injury to our spirits (emotions); life’s changes (my hot flash symbolizing those changes in the seasons of life); decay; wickedness prevailing; temptation from the enemy of our souls; clouds of life that bring with them gloom and despair; death; pains of childbirth; our weaknesses (physically and emotionally); false accusations against us; trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword; and being considered as sheep to be slaughtered, i.e. facing the reality of possibly being martyred for our faith in Jesus Christ.
Yet, in all of this, we are to consider that our present sufferings, when weighed on balance scales, are light in value or importance compared to what we will yet experience in eternity with God in heaven when we will be liberated from these earthly bodies and we will no longer experience this kind of suffering, as mentioned above. In other words, we can endure these sufferings in this life by the grace of God as we look forward with great expectation to the return of our Lord and the completion of our salvation. The Bible says about Jesus, “… who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame.” Jesus was able to endure all that he suffered because he was looking forward to the joy of our salvation that he was providing for us on the cross via him taking upon himself all our sins, thus crucifying them along with him and then burying them in the grave, then rising again, conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, so that we could go free. In a sense, when we suffer in these earthly bodies, they are for the purpose of helping us to die to our sins, to humble us, and to draw us closer to God in full assurance of faith, so that we can look forward with joy.
This time just prior to the Lord’s return is often referred to in scripture as a time of birth pains, which is symbolic of a time of great suffering and pain, yet with the anticipation of the joy of the birth of a child. The scriptures use it metaphorically to describe what must take place while we are still in these earthly bodies as we look forward - like sitting on the edges of our seats - with great expectation to our Lord’s return when our salvation will be complete. We, in this passage of scripture, are described as those who have the “firstfruits of the Spirit.” For those of us who never lived on a farm or who did not grow up in Old Testament times, this might be a difficult concept. The “firstfruits” were the first elements of grain and fruit to be reaped in the harvest, which the Israelites were commanded to give to the Lord as an offering. This was for the purpose of acknowledging that the harvest was a provision of God but it was also to solidify that the Israelites understood that the harvest belonged to God. In a spiritual sense, with regard to the firstfruits of the Spirit within us, this is speaking of us having begun our relationship with Jesus Christ but is also showing awareness that this is only the beginning and there is so much more to come.
So many people think of salvation as a onetime experience where one prays a prayer of salvation, he or she is saved, then one day, when he or she dies, he or she gets to go to heaven. I heard a sermon on this once where the pastor described this kind of theology as a save ‘em and shoot ‘em mentality, i.e. if that is all there is to salvation while we are still on this earth, then why not get people saved, shoot them and send them to heaven. No, there is so much, much more, which is why the term “firstfruits of the Spirit” is used to indicate that this is just the beginning, but there is more fruit to come and the harvest will not be complete until Jesus returns. The Bible refers to salvation in three ways: 1) We are saved, 2) We are being saved, and 3) We will be saved. Salvation is a process, not a onetime experience, and included in that process is suffering, but also much, much joy!
Once we have the “firstfruits of the Spirit” within us, the rest of the harvest can begin to come in to our lives through our daily walks of fellowship and obedience to our Lord. We don’t have to do this on our own, and we certainly cannot do this in the weakness of our own flesh. So, it is comforting for us to know that the Spirit helps us in our weakness. He even helps us when we don’t know what to pray for or how to pray specifically for someone or something in any given situation. There have been many times when I have just asked the Holy Spirit to intercede for me in prayer, because I didn’t know what to say, but he does. It is so nice to know, that even if no one else is praying for us, the Spirit of God is! Amen! And, he does this in accordance with God’s will, not our human wills and desires.
In all the things we go through in this life, though, for those of us who are in Christ Jesus, who love Jesus - as is evidenced by our obedience and repentance - we can have this hope that God will work out all the situations of our lives for our good, i.e. for what is best for us to help us to mature and to become more and more like Jesus. Part of our suffering in this life involves having people against us, yet we can have hope even in the greatest of suffering in knowing that the Spirit of God is always interceding for us, that nothing can separate us - those who love God - from his love, and that in all these things we can be conquerors through him (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) who loved (and loves) us. The key to this kind of promise is that we first of all have the Spirit of God within us through faith in Jesus Christ, that we love God (shown by our repentance and obedience), that we are not walking according to the sinful nature any longer, satisfying its cravings and desires, but that we are walking according to the Spirit of God and the teachings of scripture, spending time at Jesus’ feet each day, listening and then obeying, and that we are being led by the Spirit of God and are choosing to walk in obedience to God’s commands. This is how we have our lamps full with oil so that when Jesus returns, we are ready to meet him.
Abide With Me / Henry F. Lyte / William H. Monk
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment