Groaning that Looks to Glory

How Creation’s Groaning Leads to Christian Assurance

Text: Romans 8:18-23; Ephesians 1:7-10

Romans 8:18–23 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

 Introduction

Two big problems stand in the way of our confident assurance that God has justified us and will glorify us:

1. Our ongoing struggle with sin tempts us to question God’s removal of His condemnation and our personal experience of the salvation He promised.
2. Our ongoing experience of prolonged, unexplained suffering tempts us to question God’s assurance that nothing will separate us from Him or His love

These realities expose us to immense spiritual dangers that can derail our lives and distance us from God.

1. Our ongoing struggle with sin can so discourage us that we become afraid of and frustrated with God for delivering us from the penalty of sin while seemingly leaving us enslaved to its ongoing power. This fear and frustration can lead us to grow distant from God.
2. Our ongoing experience of prolonged, unexplained suffering can embitter us against God to the point that we turn away from Him and abandon the faith we once confessed.

Paul is giving us both an explanation of why these realities remain part of our earthly experience and strong encouragement to endure them with triumphant joy because we know what God is really up to!

He is giving us a bold biblical category for processing the groanings that occur around us and within us! He uses a term that tells us whether we are on the birthing wing or the cancer wing – and the term he uses in verse 22 is “travail” (συνωδίνει), which means “birth pangs or labor pains.”

And we need this category so that we don’t grow weary in our walk with God, so that our faith isn’t overwhelmed by sorrow, and so that we don’t despair of hope and turn away from God when those hard seasons of life come upon us.

So as we think carefully about our ongoing struggle with sin and the painful suffering we encounter in life – what does Paul want us to know about God’s purposes for allowing such pain to be part of our Christian journey? In verse 18, Paul reminds us to reckon certain realities against our current experience:

Reality number 1:  Our present suffering must be weighed against our future glory.

Reality number 2:  Creation is waiting for the liberation God has promised when His Children are unveiled in their full glory.

How do creation’s anticipation and our own produce confident expectation in us now?  Paul wants us to carefully consider and evaluate five important realities:

I. Our Eager ___________________ (vv. 19, 23)
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. . . we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

• All of creation is doing the very same thing we are doing – waiting with eager anticipation. And the thing it desperately longs for is the unveiling of the sons of God!
• The term “revealing” is the word “ἀποκάλυψιν,” and it is the word John used for the title of the book of Revelation – the unveiling of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in His full glory! Paul uses this same term in 8:19 to describe our unveiling as the “Sons of God.”
• The sons and daughters of God in their present state appear remarkably ordinary. Almost nothing would indicate their true status as beloved children of the King of Glory.
  

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• BUT there is coming a day when God will unveil them in their fully glorified bodies – and they will look remarkably like the Son of God whom John describes in Revelation 1.
• And all of creation is up on its toes waiting with eager anticipation for that day!!
• Which brings up the question – “What has happened to creation and to us that creates this deep longing and eager anticipation?”
  

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II. Our Divine ___________________ (v. 20)
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it,

• Paul’s answer is to point to the present, painful reality that all of creation, including ourselves, has been subjected to endure.
• He calls that reality “futility.” Solomon uses this term in Ecclesiastes to describe the “vanity of life under the sun.”
• That futility manifests itself in two horrible ways:

A. All of Creation is in bondage to Corruption and Decay

B. All of Creation exists in conditions of Enmity and Hostility

And most surprising is Paul’s statement that creation was subjected to this not willingly, but by someone else who willed it so! (v. 20) And the one who did so is God! (cf., Eccl 7:13)

Why did God do this?

1. As a just and righteous judgment against Mankind’s sin! (Gen 2:17; 3:17 – “And to Adam He said . . . ‘Cursed is the ground because of you!’”
2. As a severe mercy to Mankind. Listen to Solomon articulate the purpose behind this severe mercy: “I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it.  God has done it, so that people fear before him!” (Eccl 3:14).

God did this so that man would never find ultimate satisfaction or salvation in creation. But that is not the end of the story!

III. Our Promised ___________________ (v. 21)
in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

At the very moment God subjected His creation to this curse, He also gave an accompanying hope grounded in His immutable promise to send a Son who would reverse this ancient curse, redeem this ancient race, and restore this ancient creation for His original purposes (Eph 1.9-10)!

The hope? That creation would one day be set free from this bondage and share in the glory of the children of God – just as they are liberated from bondage and corruption and given a glorious, fully restored body like Adam’s original glory and Christ’s present glory, so creation will also be transformed and restored to its original glory!

IV. Our Present ___________________ (v. 22)
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now

• The entire creation has been groaning together – all of it, including us (vs 23)! We have been groaning since Genesis 3!
• BUT – something has happened that indicates our groaning is about to end, and the word Paul uses to highlight this is “now.”
• Now that the promised Son has come and procured full redemption, God is working in this age to bring many sons like Him to glory!
• And when God unveils His Son in glory at His second coming, an innumerable multitude of sons and daughters will appear with him, looking just like him in splendor and glory!
  

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• However, that time is not yet here. But it is surely coming, just as surely as a mother in labor knows she will give birth and be delivered from those pains. In other words, our present groanings are the sure sign of our future glorification!

V. Our Confident ___________________ (v. 23 – 24a)
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved.

• Creation’s groanings assure us because we share in that same groaning – but we have something creation does not! We have a downpayment, the first fruits of something coming.
• What we possess is the Holy Spirit, and His permanent presence in our lives is the guarantee of our future glory!
• And the way we know He is present in us is two-fold:

1. He is energizing something in us – sanctification over sins that continue to beset us.
2. He is sustaining something in us – triumphant endurance in the face of fierce suffering that at times overwhelms us.

Conclusion

God has made irrevocable promises to His creation – that He will make a new heaven and earth in which there is no decay, no corruption, no pain or sorrow, no physical harm or moral evil, and no death (Isaiah 65:17-25; Rev 22:1-5)!

What Paul introduces here is the timing – when God unveils His sons and daughters in full glory! That restoration will happen when His Son appears in glory with His saints (Acts 3:21; Col 3:4; 1 Thess 3:13).

That is why Paul gives us an important category for evaluating our present suffering so that we hold fast to God with triumphant endurance! And that category is “labor pangs” or “birth pains!” 

As our bodies decay and we face sorrow, suffering, and even agonizing pain – even on our deathbeds – Paul tells us to put them in the right category! They may be happening on the cancer ward – but they are birth pains announcing our liberation from corruption, decay, and futility, and the day we appear in our glorious new bodies!

So, Let’s Hang On!  Let’s Look Up!  Let’s Stand Fast!