Romans Series # 37 May 08, 2002
Title: Suffering And Glory
Website: www.newlifeinchrist.info
Email: pastorsarver@yahoo.com
Introduction: Welcome to New Life in Christ. We are currently in Chapter 8 of Romans as we continue with message #37 of our verse-by-verse study of the Book of Romans.
Read Romans 8:16-25
Opening Prayer
Last week I shared with you from Romans 8:12-15, which emphasizes the Christians status as children of God. As children of God we can now approach God with confidence and enter into a close relationship with Him. Also as children of God we are justified in having high expectations of the benefits that come form being in His family. In much the same sense as the children of Bill Gates or President George Bush might reasonably expect some great benefits as a result of being their children.
In this passage the Apostle Paul assures the Christian that as a child of God such high expectations are not in vain for we will receive some out-of-this-world benefits. Paul uses the terms “inheritance” and “glory” to express these benefits. He wants us to know that these things are certain but that suffering of various sorts also precedes them.
This suffering, which the Roman Christians were currently going through, was an enigma to the early Christians. It was confusing to them because it seemed that children of God shouldn’t suffer. Paul straightens out this misunderstanding, which still exists today, of the present Christian life. The Bible reveals that the Christian life includes suffering in the present, but it also reveals to us that we should be hopeful, not discouraged or despondent, because our future is certain and wonderful. I believe the main message this passage is communicating to Believers today can be summarized as follows:
1. The Christian Can Be Certain Of Future Glory Despite Present Suffering.
As we go through this passage verse by verse we will see the practical impact an understanding of this spiritual truth should have on the Christian’s everyday life, actions, and above all – attitude!
Read Verse 16
This verse actually would have fit better with last week’s message from Romans that dealt with the subject of knowing with certainty that you are God’s child. Last week I noted that the Bible teaches that we can know we are God’s children by our new life direction. (Romans 8:12-15) In this verse Paul continues this emphasis. In essence Paul shares with the Believer that the they can know that they are God’s child because they have the witness or testimony of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the witness of their own spirit.
Although in our inner man (our spirit) we may feel that we are God’s children, we wouldn’t want to rely on that inner feeling or testimony alone, since we could be deceiving ourselves. The good news is that we don’t have to rely on the uncertainty of our own spirit’s witness because the Holy Spirit of God also testifies reliably “with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
The Holy Spirit gives evidence or testimony to the fact that we are God’s children by the inner change and new life direction that we talked about last week. In a sense, Christians have two witnesses, which Roman law required in the cases of adoption, that we are truly God’s children. We have the subjective evidence of our own spirit’s testimony in which we “feel” that we are God’s children and we have the objective evidence of the Holy Spirit’s leading and life-changing power. This latter objective evidence is where the Bible places most of the emphasis when it comes to how and why Christians can have certainty about their status as children of God.
Having established this certainty, Paul now begins to elaborate on what being a child of God means for the present and future.
Read Verse 17
“Now if we are children of God (an established fact) then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…” As Christians we have a reasonable right to have high expectations since we are in the family and therefore we are in the will. We have an inheritance from God! Who could be better? Now this inheritance from God doesn’t work like an inheritance today, which requires the death of the giver of the inheritance. The word “inheritance” in the Bible can refer to a family gift that is given at anytime. The prodigal son is an example of this practice. God has an inheritance for His people. Our inheritance as children of God is not something that we currently possess or can expect to possess in this life. It is a future hope we hold in faith while we endure the current tribulations of living in this fallen world.
What is this inheritance? Paul isn’t specific in revealing the fullness of it but he does share that it includes the redemption of our bodies (Vs. 23), sharing of Christ’s glory (Vs. 17), full benefits of adoption (Vs. 23), and glorious freedom (Vs. 21). I will explain the details of these aspects of our inheritance as we get to the pertinent verses in our study. Keep in mind that whatever understanding we gain of our inheritance is going to be limited. Words could never convey our inheritance from God. For this reason Paul prays that the Spirit of God would open our spiritual eyes to a better understanding of “His glorious inheritance in the saints.” (Ephesians 1:18) No matter how limited our understanding, we do know that it is wonderful! Peter describes our inheritance as one which “can never perish, spoil, or fade (which is) kept in heaven for you.” (1 Peter 1:4)
We are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ…” (Vs. 17) This verse doesn’t necessarily mean that we receive everything that Jesus receives does as the Son of God. After all some things belong only to Jesus, such as His exaltation to the highest place with a name that is above every other name to which every knee shall bow. (Philippians 2:9-11) The reason Paul says that we are co-heirs with Christ is to emphasize that we receive an inheritance by virtue of our being identified with Christ. It is His glory that we share, not our own glory!
Of course, if we share in Jesus’ glory and inheritance, we would also expect to share in His sufferings. Paul says, “We share in His sufferings in order that (so that) we may also share in His glory.” Paul makes our inheritance contingent upon sharing in Christ’s suffering. This should not make us uncertain as to our inheritance so that we begin to doubt our future because we wonder, “Have I shared in Jesus sufferings?” The original Greek conveys the idea that we will certainly suffer with Jesus. The general idea of verse 17 is that Christians should not be discouraged by their present sufferings because sharing in Christ’s suffering also means sharing in His Glory.
Illustration: A physical fitness trainer might say to a beginning student after the first few days of exercise, “If you are sore, don’t be discouraged because that is a necessary part to becoming healthy and toned muscularly. The teacher is not expressing doubt about a students soreness, that’s a given. He is only trying to encourage the student by relating what the soreness means.
This is what Paul us doing for us in this verse. He is saying that we should not be discouraged by the hardships of this present life since they necessarily precede the future glory of being a child of God. We can actually rejoice in our sufferings because our hope for the future is certain. (Romans 5:3-5)
1. The Christian Can Be Certain Of Future Glory Despite Present Suffering.
What does it mean to “share in His sufferings?” The rest of Chapter 8 will indicate that it means more that suffering for Christ by being persecuted for our faith. We suffer with Christ in the sense that, although we are children of God, we still experience the ills of living in a fleshly body and a fallen world of sin, a world that is filled with various kinds of suffering. Jesus, although the Son of God, suffered the trials, tribulations, hardships, pain and death of this world before He was glorified. Should we expect any differently? We too will share in that same type of suffering.
This suffering, which doesn’t negate our future or joy, is described in Romans 8:35 as including “trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, and sword.” In other words, the suffering we will encounter in this world, despite being Christians, is of a wide variety and type. This shouldn’t discourage us though because our future glory is sure!
1. The Christian Can Be Certain Of Future Glory Despite Present Suffering.
Read Verse 18
Illustration: In the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, a Japanese gymnast, Shun Fujimoto, was competing in the team competition. Somehow, during the floor exercises, he broke his right knee. It was obvious to all reasonable observers that he would be forced to withdraw. But they reckoned without the determination of a true competitor. On the following day, Fujimoto competed in his strongest event, the rings. His routine was excellent, but the critical point laid ahead—the dismount. Without hesitation, Fujimoto ended with a twisting, triple somersault. There was a moment of intense quiet as he landed with tremendous impact on his wounded knee. Then came thundering applause as he stood his ground. Later, reporters asked about that moment and he replied, “The pain shot through me like a knife. It brought tears to my eyes. But now I have a gold medal and the pain in gone.” Source: Gary Inrig, A Call to Excellence, (Victor Books, a division of SP Publ., Wheaton, Ill, 1985), p. 152
This in effect is what Paul is saying to us. We will go through painful times but one day the pain will be gone and the glory will be lasting. There is no doubt that even though we are children of God we will go through some very hard and hurtful times. It doesn’t matter how much faith you have, how spiritual you are, or how many supposed spiritual laws you may practice – you will suffer! This is true simply because we have not yet received the fullness of what it means to be children of God. We only have the beginnings of our inheritance. As Paul says in verse 23 we have the “first fruits of the Spirit.” So for now we must understand that the Christian life will not be a rose garden!
This doesn’t mean our troubles cause us to go through life despondent, defeated, overwhelmed and without joy. We don’t respond to suffering this way because we recognize that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” In other words we can say, like that Olympian, “It is all worth it!” The pains of this life are small and temporary when compared to the glory and eternity the future holds for the children of God.
Paul uses the word “consider” in verse 18. In the original Greek this was an accounting term that meant to calculate something. Paul says that he has done the math and added it all up. He has added up all the sufferings of this life on one side of life’s ledger and he has added up all the glories of the future life on the other side of the ledger and the glory far exceeds the pain. The suffering in this world is nothing compared to the glory of the next!
Christians need to do this spiritual math. We need to look at our problems from an eternal perspective. Yes we need to recognize that there are real hurts and pains in life. There is the hurt of losing a loved one. There is the hurt of sickness, infirmity and physical pain. There is the hurt of rejection. There is the hurt of poverty and lack. There is the hurt of broken relationships and the disappointments of life. We must recognize these things as present realities but we must also look ahead to the glory to come. Only then will we be able to have the attitude of hope and patience that Paul calls for in verse 25.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
These verses teach the same basic message of the passage in Romans we have been studying tonight. Christians can be certain of their glorious future but suffering precedes that future. Many Christians today are disillusioned and discouraged because they have unbiblical expectations of a trouble free life and because they are looking only at the present situation. They say things like, “If I am a child of God how come I still get sick?” “How come I still suffer pain?” “How come Christians still die?” “How come Christians experience famine and poverty?” (Genuine, faith-filled, and mature Christians do experience all these things!) Their expectations are not met and they grow discouraged and disillusioned because they are looking for the full benefits of being a child of God now when the Bible teaches that we are not to fix our eyes on the present situation but are to look ahead in faith to eternal glory. We wait in faith for the full benefits and inheritance of being a child of God to take place. Paul describes this event in the latter part of verse 18.
Paul says in verse 18 that God’s glory will “be revealed in us.” He is referring to our status as children of God being made complete and fully manifest or revealed.
When that final curtain falls, God’s true sons and daughters will be revealed for who they truly are. Right now Jesus Christ’s followers look just like other people do. We get sick, just like other people. We experience heartbreak, failure, broken relationships, anger, frustration, and all the other things that are characteristic of the human condition. But one day the curtain will be pulled away, and who we really are will be revealed: God’s adopted sons and daughters.
Source: Sermon “Back To The Future” by Timothy Peck
Paul continues to speak about the time when God’s children are revealed in verse 19. We will take a closer look at that next week.
Conclusion: In conclusion, we are now children of God but we have not yet received the full benefits of being God’s children. This means we will undergo times of suffering but we should not be discouraged because the day is coming when will be made complete and will receive our inheritance as God’s children. The hurts we go through now will not compare to the glory we will experience then. Our future is sure therefore our hope is enduring.
1. The Christian Can Be Certain Of Future Glory Despite Present Suffering.
Closing Payer
