Where are You?
Romans Series
CCCAG August 16th, 2020
Scripture- Romans 8:18-25 (Julie Reading)
A quick question to start us out this morning-
How many people here have ever had a long process to achieve a goal?
For some of us who were in the military, your basic training and AIT was a long process. About 14 weeks of basic training and three to six months of schooling before you could even start doing the job you signed up to do.
Another thing many military members are familiar with is being deployed for months or even years away from their home and loved ones. If they have a calendar in their locker, often they'll have the day they scheduled to go home circled with a big thick red marker. I remember if we had 46 days left before we went home, we would say we had 45 days and a wake up just to shorten it down a little bit .
Others when you were in college spent two to four years studying and sacrificing and giving up a large amount of your time that other people were spending on vacations and other hobbies to achieve the goal of a degree that would help you do the thing that you wanted to do for a living.
Maybe you had been saving up to take a once in a lifetime vacation trip, and you had to spend months or years looking forward to the time where you would actually leave to go on that trip.
Something many of the women here may have felt at one time in their lives was looking forward to the due date of their children. This is especially true in the last three months when everything swells up gets sore and even finding a comfortable position to sleep in is challenging.
That sense of longing for something in the future is a pretty common human experience that we all go through at one point or another in our lives.
Even right now we are all probably thinking back to that kind of situation in our lives where we are all looking forward for something to happen.
In our continuation of our Romans series, we have been spending the last few weeks in Romans chapter 8. Last week we asked the question of “who's are you”?
This week the question that Paul poses to us is “where are you”?
We're going to be reading in Romans chapter 8 verses 18 through 25.
Rom 8:18-25
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 first fruits 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.
NIV
Prayer
As we read our scriptures for this morning, we are not the only ones who are looking forward to future events.
The Apostle Paul uses something called anthropomorphism. That's a big word that means to give human characteristics to something that is not human.
In verse 19 Paul says at the creation waits an eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Obviously, no one would suggest that the entirety of all creation is sentient, meaning that it has thoughts an emotion and awareness of its being.
Paul is using this type of language to show those of us who have trusted Jesus as Lord and God and savior and King what we have to look forward to in the future.
As he does this, he calls those who are saved, “Sons of God”. That phrase in New Testament terms is meant to be inclusive to men and woman as we see throughout Paul’s writings and others scriptures including even the Words of Jesus.
Don’t get hung up on it just indicating “sons”. Don’t feel left out ladies.
I. Son’s Of God- the meaning
This term Son’s of God has a lot of meaning in scripture, and to understand it term better, we have two reference points within the bible we should look at.
The first is Genesis chapter 6.
I'm going to briefly explain this. I’m going to read the scripture and then quickly give two theories about what it means in regards to the Genesis account. Make it plain- It really doesn’t matter which you believe- it’s not a salvation issue.
Let’s read the verses-
Gen 6:1-4
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
NIV
Noah probably recorded these events that were eventually, either through written or oral tradition, passed onto Moses that recorded these events.
There is a lot of dispute about the exact meanings of verses one through 4. I’m going to quickly summarize the two views.
One theory of what Genesis 6:1-4 means is that some of the angels that were cast out of heaven during Satan’s rebellion took on human form and were able to take human woman as wives and produced the race that Goliath came from- the Nephilim.
This led to an such an abomination of the image of God within humanity that triggered judgment, and that’s why God sent the flood. There is some support of this in the New Testament where in Jude
Jude 6
6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
Under this theory- the angels who committed this abomination are locked up until the White Throne judgment. Any other angel that rebelled with satan, but did not taken human form became the demons.
The second theory I one I lean a bit more toward is that when Adam and Eve’s son Cain was driven away from Adam’s family, Cain and his family took upon themselves the title of sons and daughters of men because they wanted nothing to do with the creator God.
Those who stayed loyal to God- the line of Adam and Eve’s son Seth, took upon themselves the title of Sons and daughters of God.
Eventually these two tribes came together again, and began to intermarry, and the sin of the line of Cain infected the line of Seth.
Up until that point- the line of Seth had the Spirit of God leading them and helping them.
Because of this Spiritual help, it’s very likely that the line of Seth was far more advanced as far as Bronze age technology and the line of Cain took that and used it for evil, and that is the source of the Nephilim.
Those are the two theories on the meaning of the sons of God in Genesis, and since it’s the first reference to an idea, it’s a principle in scriptural interpretation that the source is the meaning so we had to go there this morning.
I personally lean more toward the second interpretation, but it’s a 60/40 split in my mind.
The reason I lean toward the second is because there is a principle of bible interpretation and that is that the bible should interpret the bible.
That makes sense right? You don’t consult a Toyota book to work on a GM car. The same is true of the bible- we can have thousands of commentators give their opinions, but I know the better way is to let the bible speak and for us to accept it.
Using that idea, Paul gives us the New Testament meaning a few verses earlier in Romans 8.
Rom 8:14-15 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Both the OT and the NT have established who these sons and daughters of God are supposed to be; people who are LED by the Spirit of God.
Today we have another word for that- Christians.
We are the only ones on this planet who have the spirit of God living both within us and being upon us in power.
Now that we’ve looked at who we are, let’s look at how Paul describes creation in relation to us being the sons and daughters of God.
II. Current State of Creation
Paul give us several very descriptive words to describe the condition of this world in relation to us coming into our roles as Sons and Daughters of God.
The first description given is “Waiting”
19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
A. Waiting
In the introduction to this message, I gave several examples of people who are looking forward 2 an event that they were longing for to arrive.
That's this sense of what Paul is trying to explain to us right now.
I know there's probably an objection right now in many of our minds that the last thing this world wants right now is more of Jesus.
If you proclaim the name of Jesus outside of using it as a curse you're automatically labeled as an intolerant bigot who needs to be silenced. There is no longer any upside in this world to calling yourself a Christian, in fact being labeled as a Bible believing Christian Is more of a liability now than it is an asset.
I've been thinking a lot about this. I've been looking at the world as it exists today and comparing it with scriptures like Matthew 24 and 2nd Timothy 3 which describes people in the end times as wicked and God hating and then asking the question-
How can I reconcile those scriptures with what Paul is saying here? How can a God-hating world be waiting for the Sons and Daughter of God to be revealed?
The answer came through my youngest daughter. Growing up, and particularly in her later teen years, she was the most spirited and rebellious of the two girls. In fact, when we moved to come up here and be your pastors, she was the one I was most concerned about leaving behind in Kenosha.
We had a very rocky relationship for a number of years (teenage drama). I see things as right or wrong, or black and white with most issues, and she exists in the gray areas and thought I was too rigid and set in my ways.
However a few years ago she posted on her social media how much she appreciated having me as a father because even though she may not agree with me on many things she knows that I always have people's best interests at heart and even though I was sometimes strict as a parent that she now sees why I was like that and appreciates it now because she sees a lot of me in herself.
I give you this example to say this- (call it like it is, even if it offends)
Our world, and particularly America right now, is filled with a lot of immature selfish teenagers masquerading as adults.
The reason they're like that is because there has been a vacuum of good parenting, biblical training. Too many church’s and ministries have the wrong focus- concerned about social justice causes and being culturally relevant then working to bring people into salvation.
Get a person to where they need to be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ- that’s the mission of the church. Get that right, and everything else works itself out. (expand)
In other words the world is waiting for the true Christians to please stand up and be willing to take that initial heat of hatred that they might receive in order to gain the Salvation of someone soul in the future.
That is why you see the next description of the world-
B. Frustration
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration
The year 2020 has been a very trying year for our church family- both corporately and for many personally
It started with Pastor Roger dying.
Then the major plumbing disaster that cut our general fund in half
Followed almost immediately by the coronavirus lockdown
Then the George Floyd incident which sparked protests everywhere in the nation, and even destroying parts of Minneapolis, Seattle, and Portland OR, and Chicago.
There's been a lot of people who have talked about the psychological impact of all this chaos on your average person.
I think the biggest feeling everyone has right now is frustration.
We are frustrated with our government in changing their minds seemingly every week about coronavirus statistics and methods used to combat it.
People are frustrated over the lack of support for the police
Now we are coming into the season of the general election for president featuring on one hand a man who acts like a bull in a china shop and a person of questionable mental acuity who we are supposed to wink and really elect his running mate- a fairly divisive figure who is on the radical side of her party.
In other words, Get ready for some fireworks.
But what is at the root of this frustration?
It's not the coronavirus
it's not racial injustice
it is not overreaching government
it is not supporting police or supporting their disbandment
it's not if you are Republican or Democrat
what it is- an entirely spiritual issue
Here's the truth that is often lost and every single one of these arguments
humanity is a spiritual creature having a temporarily human existence.
When we ignore the spiritual we ignore the essence of who we are and try to live only as fleshly human beings. Repeat
Tthat is where all this frustration and anger and anxiety and hatred is coming from. It's because we are living according to the wrong nature and it's causing frustration.
Not only just a frustration In the current events but the frustration of who we even are.
That's the problem no one understands who they are or whose they are and it's very disconcerting and very troublesome to people and that's why all this garbage is spilling over into what we are seeing on the nightly news.
Our entire creation, our Nation and our society is frustrated waiting for the sons and daughters of God to rise up and let them know who they are and who's they are and what he expects an wants from every single one of us.
So where are you sons and daughters of God? Are you being the ambassadors of the Kingdom that they are actually looking for?
All if this garbage we are living through right now is a result of people being spiritually lost and blind.
All of their sin, all their evil, all their wickedness Is just a spiritual symptom of how lost they are in trying to discover who they are and whose they are.
The Bible says that God is placed eternity in the hearts of men. That empty hole that is there in our spirits was meant to be filled by the overwhelming presence of God and so everyone tries to fill that hole with everything else and never is able to do so with the things of this world.
That explains the 3rd description of creation today
C. Groaning as in pain of Childbirth
Spiritually speaking, this is a great way to describe the needs of this world right now.
the number one example seen in scripture to describe the longing in the hearts of humanity for God is a description of a woman in labor.
It's something I have witnessed but cannot comment on Because I will never know what that is like. I have delivered a lot of babies but have no idea what the woman is truly feeling and going through.
I know invariably before the end most women feel like they can't continue to do this. They're exhausted or the pain is too great or the labor has gone on too long and they feel like they have nothing left.
Pause
Isn't that a description of the spiritual condition of our world today?
Exhaustion
Pain both spiritual and emotional
For the Christian- the feeling that Jesus is waiting too long to show Himself to the world again
Almost every pastor or Christian leaders I talk to speaks of being so exhausted that they feel like they have nothing left.
If it's like that for the leaders in the church imagine how it is for the person in the pew.
Now imagine- how is for those who don't even know God.
So that begs the question-
III. Where are You?
At the beginning, we asked the question- “Where Are You?
The question is based off of verse 19
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.
Many people in this age within the church don't understand the calling on their lives. The greatest trick that Satan has played on the church is to convince them that there is a difference between the pastor and the people in the church.
Let me say this to you very plainly
You are all called of God to the ministry.
Jesus did not save you to sit.
Jesus saved you to serve
The scripture did not say the creation waits in eager expectation For the ministers of God to be revealed.
It said the creation waits and eager expectations for the Sons and also by context daughters of God to be revealed.
In other words, creation is waiting for you.
Altar Call
