The Cry of Creation

Well, please turn your bibles now to Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

We'll be reading verses 18 to 25. The

text is also printed in your bulletin. Again,

Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:18–25

verses 18 to 25. We looked at verse

18

or is, last week, but I'm including it,

for context. And, of course, it's very much

related to everything that we'll be preaching today.

Again, Romans chapter 8 verses 18 to 25.

Romans 8:18–25

Please listen to the reading of god's word.

For I consider that the sufferings of this

present time

are not worth comparing with the glory that

is to be revealed

to us.

For the creation waits with eager longing

for the revealing of the sons of god.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not

willingly,

but because of him who subjected it, in

hope 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.

For we know that the whole creation has

been groaning together in the pains of childbirth

until now.

And not only the creation,

but we ourselves

who have the first fruits of the spirit

grown inwardly

as we wait

eagerly

for adoption as sons, the redemption of our

bodies.

For in this hope, we were saved.

Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do

not see,

we wait for it with patience.

This is the word of the lord.

Thanks be to god. Please be seated.

Well, I've never enjoyed being away from home

for too long,

and this is not just a new thing.

This is something that has always been true

for me,

even when I was a kid and even

when I was when I left to college.

In fact, when I left to college,

I remember in that first semester,

being

far away from home,

being far away from my parents

and from my sisters

and from my extended family and from my

friends,

being far away from the girl that I

was already crazy about and that I still

very much love,

And from all the familiar surroundings that I

had grown up with,

I I remember that, and I dreaded it.

I dreaded the distance that existed between me

and,

the things that I loved.

And consequently,

I longed for the end of the semester,

for the day when I would hop on

a plane

and return home.

And it wasn't simply the distance that caused

me to yearn for home. It was the

fact that a return flight existed,

that I owned a ticket to a seat

on that plane,

that a date and a time

had been marked on my calendar.

That

is what intensified the groaning

in my heart. In a sense, it was

hope

that made me hurt.

Today, we're looking at Romans chapter 8 verses

Romans 8:18–25

18 to 25.

In this text, Paul teaches us

that all who belong to Christ, indeed

that all the created order

have within them

this kind of longing

for their true home.

It is a longing that though painful

evidences

the certainty and inevitability

of the invisible hope

that is written within them.

In fact,

this is the main point I want you

to remember from this morning sermon.

Though things are not what they should be,

your heartache

heralds

heaven's hope.

Though things are not what they should be,

your heartache

heralds heaven's hope.

And we're going to consider this message under

2 headings today.

1st of all, pain and purpose,

and secondly,

promise and patience.

So let's look at the first heading,

pain and purpose.

Last week, we saw Paul make the point

in verse 18

that if one were to take a balance

and place on one side,

on one side the all the sufferings

that Christians experience

in this life,

and then on the other side of the

balance,

place the glory

that is going to be revealed to us

and that we will receive on the last

day,

it would be

no contest.

The glory that is ours in Jesus Christ

far outweighs

any burden

that we are called to carry

during this life.

To be sure, the whole creation bears witness

in a very positive way to the glory

of God.

In Psalm 19,

David writes in majestic language,

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims His handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech, and night

to night reveals knowledge. There are no words

nor is there speech whose, I'm sorry. There

there is no I'm sorry. There is no

speech nor other words whose voice is not

heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the

world.

The beauty,

the majesty,

the harmonious inner workings

of creation all bear witness to the glory

of god. Whether

one beholds the beauty of an untarnished and

unadulterated

landscape,

or gazes at the majesty of a night

sky that is illuminated

by countless stars and galaxies,

or even looks inward

and considers the amazing complexity

of the human body, one inevitably

stands in awe

of the power of God and of the

wisdom of God.

The woodlands,

for example,

is a great place to live among other

things because even though it is surrounded by

a concrete jungle,

it

tries to be a garden of Eden.

It tries to or it attempts to preserve

or at least to reproduce

a natural beauty,

and people appreciate that about it.

To be sure, the created order is a

compelling sermon

that

declares

the glory of God to us.

In fact, it is only our sinfully deaf

ears that prevent us from joining our voices

with a celestial choir to proclaim God's praises.

And this spiritual deficiency in us is due

to the tragic and devastating effects of sin.

At the very outset of this letter, in

chapter 1 of Romans, verses 18 to 23,

listen to what Paul writes.

He writes, For the wrath of God is

revealed from heaven against all ungodliness

and unrighteousness of men,

who by their unrighteousness

suppress the truth.

For what can be known about god is

plain to them

because god has shown it to them.

For his invisible attributes,

namely his eternal power

and divine nature, have been clearly perceived

ever since the creation of the world in

the things that have been made.

So

they are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they did not

honor him as God

or give thanks to him, but they were

futile. They became futile in their thinking,

and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Claiming to be wise,

they became fools

and exchanged the glory of the immortal god

for images resembling mortal man and birds

and animals

and creeping things.

In other words, god manifests his glory to

us in creation,

but because of our sin, we turn a

blind eye to it.

Claiming to be wise,

we become fools,

and we exchange the glory of God

for all sorts of idols.

We ignore the positive and spectacular witness to

God's glory that creation itself declares,

and that it proclaims to us, and we

are all the poorer for it.

And yet Paul tells us now

in Romans

Romans 8:19–25

chapter 8 verses 19 to 25,

that through nature,

god also provides another kind of another

unlikely witness,

an unlikely witness to his glory,

and that is

the glory I'm sorry, the groaning

of creation.

The groaning of creation is an unlikely witness

that God gives us

in the very things

that He has made.

In verse 19, Paul writes that, the creation

waits with eager longing

for the revealing

of the sons

of God.

Think about what a fascinating statement this is.

In the midst of pain and suffering,

creation itself, writes Paul, has within it an

anticipation

of glory.

A glory that is here described as the

revealing of the sons of God.

In other words, if we could properly perceive,

if we could duly discern,

if we could rightly reason,

we would realize that the tragedy of the

fallen world

causes creation to groan

because it knows something better is coming.

In the midst of suffering,

creation's cry clamors

for the coming cure.

That is to say,

the tragedy of the fallen estate of the

natural world itself

cries out to us

and preaches a fiery sermon that at once

both reveals the catastrophic

disintegration

of the created order

and yet manifest

the coming glory of god.

The devastation brought about by so called natural

disasters,

the ravages and suffering caused by disease,

the savagery and violence

that permeates the animal kingdom,

not to mention the ubiquity of injustice and

the utter disregard for life

that is present among human beings,

all live their groaning to have been crying

out,

how long, oh lord?

The storm that swept through the Houston metro

area on Thursday,

uprooting majestic trees,

and bringing down power lines,

and damaging houses

through the chaotic and destructive force of wind

and rain,

reinjected a sense of insecurity

and anxiety into many people's lives.

Now the constant of the generators in the

neighborhoods

eerily echo creation's message

that things are not what they should be

because they're not what they could be. Indeed,

they're not even what they used to be.

And this

is a great tragedy.

But the groaning of creation itself,

the expectation

that something better, not merely ought to be,

but one day shall be,

is actually a hopeful sermon that is preached

daily and is heard by all even if

it's not always heeded.

Through the cycle of day

turning into night,

or spring

turning into winter,

or plants wilting,

or food rotting,

or life

dying,

creation groans.

And yet,

that same cycle

turns night into morning,

and winter into spring,

and seeds into plants,

and food into energy,

and even death

into life.

And this tells us that creation's grown has

a built in hope.

Now notice that in verse 21,

Paul compares the suffering in creation

to the bondage of slavery.

With all the impotence and hopelessness and futility

that that entails.

Then in verse 22, he goes on to

compare it to the excruciating

pains

of childbirth.

In other words,

Paul is not offering platitudes to us.

He neither ignores nor minimizes the devastating effects

of suffering.

He recognizes that all suffering,

pain,

and tragedy experienced in this life is real

and it is weighty.

And yet, somehow,

Paul affirms that it all pales in comparison

with the glory

that Christians and indeed all the created order

shall one day enjoy.

Yes, there is pain,

but if one listens closely,

the cries are not the cries of death,

but the cries of childbirth,

of new life.

Creation is pregnant

with hope.

Now what does Paul mean

by creation?

What makes up that group?

Creation.

Is he saying that everything in creation is

anticipating glory, even groaning for it?

Sure doesn't seem so, does it?

There are plenty of people who seem to

have no interest,

in in the certain and certainly no desire

for the glory of God.

So then what does Paul mean by creation?

Again, who's included in that group?

Well, in verse 20, we read that creation

was subjected to futility.

In other words, its factory settings were tempered

so that it could not function as it

should,

so that it could not fulfill the intent

of its original design.

That's what the Greek word translated here as

futility means.

When referring to a person, it describes an

aimless existence

where one wakes up without a purpose,

walks with empty aspirations,

and loiters life away,

wasting each and every breath

in idle impotence.

Such futility

describes the state into which creation was subjected,

not willingly,

but by force.

It was acted upon and coerced into this

deviation

from the original design.

This means that in this text,

when Paul mentions creation, he excludes mankind.

Since mankind was corrupted

not by coercion,

but when Adam willingly

sinned.

This is why the creation groans for God's

glory to be revealed, but unbelievers, for example,

do not.

Furthermore, in verse 21,

Paul writes that one day creation will be

set free

from its bondage to corruption.

This excludes angels since they did not fall

into bondage when Adam sinned,

and therefore are not looking to obtain the

freedom of the glory

of the children

of God.

In other words,

Paul is here affirming that excluding men and

angels,

the rest of creation,

the animals,

the land,

the sky,

the sea,

every created thing without a reasonable soul

was unwillingly subjected to futility in the bondage

of sin,

and is now groaning for God's glory to

be revealed.

So who subjected

creation to futility

and why?

In verses 20 and 21, Paul writes,

For the creation was subjected to futility not

willingly,

but because of Him who subjected it,

in hope 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.

Because of him who subjected it in hope,

Paul writes.

The one who subjected creation in hope

is none other than God himself.

He did this after Adam sinned.

When in Genesis 3:17, God told Adam, cursed

Genesis 3:17

is the ground because of you.

The prophet Isaiah describes the devastating effect of

man's sin upon the rest of creation

when he writes in Isaiah 24

Isaiah 24:5

verses 5 and 6.

The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants,

for they have transgressed the laws,

violated the statutes,

broken the everlasting covenant.

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and its

inhabitants

suffer

for their guilt.

God gave man authority over all creation.

We were supposed to steward this great gift,

exercising dominion over the creatures with wisdom,

righteousness, and holiness.

Instead,

we sinned.

We turned away from God, we turned away

from his mandate, and became self serving.

So God put a curse on creation, so

that it would no longer serve under man's

wicked rule,

lest it advance man's evil intentions.

Yet harmony,

peace,

and blessing remain in creation's DNA,

waiting to be unlocked and unleashed

at the revelation of the sons of God,

where the redeemed humanity

is fully restored and rules in righteousness

over a renewed

heavens

and earth.

That's why creation groans

Because it knows it is in bondage

and it knows its liberation is at hand.

The sons of God are starting to be

seen.

This means that history,

even in this fallen world is neither random

nor pointless.

Creation groans

according to its design.

The events of this life are on a

trajectory.

They are moving

according to plan.

Creation itself anticipates

change

and is not just any change,

it anticipates improvement.

It is a change for the better that

lies ahead.

Creation foresees progress.

God's glory

will be revealed one day.

Creation groans in anticipation of it.

And this has an immediate

implication

for you.

There is a hopeful purpose for your life.

You are part of a story that is

moving toward a glorious end.

And if the mountains,

and the sky,

and the sea,

and the animals

with all their limitations

know this to be true, even to the

point of groaning in anticipation

for it,

then you need to be aware of it.

And you need to ask yourself,

what am I doing to help usher in

such a glorious change?

Let me ask you this,

don't you long for such a change?

Don't you know in your heart of hearts

that things are not as they should be?

That a better version of reality must be

within the realm of possibilities?

Don't you groan inwardly

that all the pain

and all the suffering

and all the injustice in this world would

go away, never to return?

In verses 23 and 24, Paul writes that,

not only the creation,

but we ourselves,

who have the first fruits of the spirit,

groan inwardly

as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons,

the redemption of our bodies, for in this

hope

we were saved.

In other words, if you're a Christian,

you like the created order

should groan within you.

You should not be satisfied with the status

quo.

You should not settle

for the vain treasures of materialism.

Creation is locked down.

And only the the only face ID that

can unlock

the creation

is Christ's image in you.

Therein lies your purpose.

You must glorify God by reflecting the image

of Christ in the way that you live,

in the things that you value,

in the things you prioritize.

Think about how you spend your time.

Think about where you spend your treasure.

Think about how you stored your talents.

Think about where you cultivate your thoughts.

Think about how you use your tongue.

What is investing in you and what are

you investing in?

All these things

are the palette

with which the story of your life is

being painted.

What kind of painting is it?

Is it a vain self portrait?

Is it a meaningless

abstract piece of art?

What purpose

is behind each brush stroke?

Because your purpose is to glorify

and to enjoy

God. That's your purpose.

God calls you to be agents of transformation,

to bring light into dark places,

to bring salt into an insipid culture.

To fulfill your purpose, you need to be

disciplined

in learning God's word.

So you think god's thoughts after him.

So your speech is saturated

in god's wisdom.

So your actions advance god's kingdom.

You need to heed the command to make

disciples because only then

will the knowledge of the glory of god

cover the earth as the waters cover the

sea.

And though we are committed

to make disciples of all nations,

disciple making

starts in the home

and in the local church.

Disciple making starts right here.

The nuclear family is the most basic molecule

of the kingdom of God.

It is embedded

with the structures of authority,

service,

discipleship,

and love.

It is equipped

with everything it needs to enable a family

to thrive,

to glorify god, and to enjoy him.

This is why your first priority,

your main purpose,

if you're a parent, is to disciple your

children.

This requires parents to submit to God's law,

to love one another well,

to be patient with each other,

to be quick to repent,

and to ask for forgiveness

of God and of those whom you hurt.

To lead by example by pursuing holy living

in your own lives.

To prioritize worship on the Lord's day.

To pray for your children.

To develop and cultivate the habit

of daily family worship.

It's hard work, but it is good work.

There is fruit that comes from it.

For the church, that is to say for

all of us,

this means that we need to know the

kids in our church family.

We need to talk to

them. We need to pray for them.

We need to

lead them with our own example

in the way that we love the Lord,

in the way that we prioritize

fellowship with the saints.

We need to demonstrate God's love in our

own lives.

Creation is groaning

because there is a battle between good and

evil, and you need to be in the

fight.

How you vote matters.

What your schools teach

matters.

What media you consume

matters.

There are battles being fought on those fields.

But what matters most

is making disciples of Jesus Christ,

beginning in your own home,

and in your church home.

Yes,

in this world there is pain,

but the pain proclaims God's plan,

and propels you to pursue your purpose,

to glorify God

by making disciples of Jesus Christ

through the power

of the Holy Spirit.

That is your mission.

Those are your marching orders.

That is your purpose

in the pain.

Now having considered the first heading, pain and

purpose,

let's look at the final heading,

promise and patience.

Remember that in verse 20, Paul wrote that

creation was subjected to futility

in hope.

In Greek, it doesn't read in hope. It

literally reads on hope.

That is to say creation, even after the

fall, is built on hope as its foundation.

And what is this hope upon which creation

is built?

In verse 21, we read that the hope

is the coming redemption

upon which

the upon which the renewed creation will obtain

the freedom of the glory of the children

of God.

In other words,

the hope that creation grunts for

is redemptive in nature

and will be characterized

by the way it manifests the glory of

God's children.

Furthermore, look at verses 23 and 24 again

where we read,

and not only the creation,

but we ourselves,

who have the first fruits of the spirit,

groan inwardly

as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons,

the redemption of our bodies, for in this

hope we were saved.

Here we learned that the hope is indeed

redemptive.

We were saved in it,

and that it is related to our adoption

as sons, which is called here the redemption

of our bodies.

Now earlier

in chapter 8,

we learned that Christians have already received the

spirit of adoption,

that we already

call God, Abba, Father,

that we already

are sons of God and therefore heirs

with Christ.

That is not a future expectation.

That is our spiritual reality right now if

we are in Jesus Christ.

So why does Paul here write

that Christians wait eagerly

for adoption as sons,

the redemption of our bodies?

Paul doesn't intend to call into question

the reality or the certainty of your adoption.

Rather, Paul here reminds you that since you

have the first fruits of the spirit,

that is to say, you have the earnest

money or the down payment that makes your

redemption sure,

you are now eagerly awaiting to appropriate the

full reality of your inheritance

which you will do when your body is

redeemed and renewed at the resurrection.

The calculus goes like this,

you have already been purchased by Christ.

As a seal of that glorious transaction,

you have received the Holy Spirit

who has redeemed and renewed your inner being

by giving you a new heart.

You, therefore,

are a new creation

if you are in Christ Jesus.

Now,

naturally,

the outer person is decaying.

And after that natural process is complete,

at death,

the supernatural process of the renewal and redemption

of your body will take place.

Your heavenly father has already chosen to adopt

you.

He has already sent his only begotten son

to pay all the pertinent fees.

The legal transaction

has already been certified and sealed by the

Holy Spirit.

There's no going back now

for God's promise to be your father

is entirely sure.

All that remains

is the public celebration

when you come of age as it were

and legally take possession of your inheritance,

and set out to steward your new estate,

ruling it with wisdom,

righteousness, and holiness

that is worthy of your new pedigree, that

is worthy of your new name.

In this life,

good leaders are uniquely positioned

to bless so many with so much.

And this is why the whole creation groans

with eager longing

for the revelation of the sons of God.

That is what glory is all about.

The renewal

and the flourishing of all things.

God's promise

is written into the DNA of creation.

So in the dead of winter,

creation groans for the vigor of spring.

And in the darkness of night, creation groans

for the rising of the morning star.

And when we bury our dead,

we groan

for the harvest of the resurrection

and for the glorious feast that shall follow.

Paul writes

that in this hope we were saved.

In Greek, the word hope doesn't mean wish.

Like one might wish that the Texans might

win the Super Bowl this year even if

we know better.

Now, the word hope

means to expect with confidence.

To expect with confidence.

This is why Paul writes the following in

verses 24 and 25. For in this hope,

we were saved.

Now hope that is seen is not hope.

For who hopes for what he sees?

But if we hope for what we do

not see, we wait for it with patience.

If you already possess something,

you no longer you are no longer hoping

for it or expecting it with confidence.

You already possess it. You're enjoying it.

No. Paul rightly states that one hopes for

what he does not see,

not because it isn't his,

but precisely because it is rightly his, and

he shall one day possess it. That's why

you hope.

And because he holds the deed,

he can afford to be patient.

Dear Christian,

you are the betrothed

of the heavenly Prince.

He has given you a ring that he

has purchased at an impossibly

high price. And it was his joy

to pay the price in full.

It is a seal of his promise

that he belongs to you.

The engagement is official.

It has been for a very long time.

The date of the wedding has been set,

and the invitations have been sent out.

Your wedding gown is spotless

and sewn with the finest

white linen, and it fits you perfectly, and

you are radiant in it.

The guests have longed with eager expectation for

the wedding day to arrive.

They have grown within themselves

and you with them.

And now

the leaves of God's word whisper in hush

voices that the groom has been spotted riding

in royal attire on a white horse.

So the groaning of creation

takes on the ring and rhythm of church

bells

announcing that the great hour is at hand.

The bells

toll for you.

Won't you answer?

They herald hope and happiness.

Your heartache shall be healed.

Your redeemer rides.

The bridegroom

beckons.

Let's pray.

Heavenly father,

we indeed long for our bridegroom to return.

Oh, how we long to see him in

his royal robes

as he comes and rescues us,

his bride that longs for the renewal of

all things,

who longs for that ceremony when we will

be united to him forever,

never to return to this life of pain

and suffering and sadness,

never to experience death again.

Oh, father, would you send your son to

return quickly?

But until then, father, may this hope,

this certain expectation of what is ours already,

may it move within us,

bringing life not only in us but in

everything that we touch.

That we might indeed,

both in this church and in our homes,

grow to be a majestic oak tree that

gives the shade

and the blessing

of your kingdom

to everyone who comes into contact with us.

Father, if there's anybody here who doesn't know

the bridegroom, I pray that today might be

the day.

May they hear the bells

tolling for them.

May they answer those bells.

May they turn to the bridegroom.

And may they never be the same.

For we pray these things in the name

of Jesus.

Amen.

Would you please stand now

and let's sing

our closing hymn,

which is hymn number

358,

for all the saints. Hymn number

358.

Again,

the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The gift that he gives us is not

just new hearts. He gives us the church,

and all his gifts

are for all the saints. Let's sing together.

Hymn 358.