Okay, now we're turning for our
study to Romans 8, verse 18. Notice verse 18. For I reckon,
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, this present
time, this time that we have right now, the suffering of this
present life, are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed to us and in us. Now, we by the Lord's
choice, by the Lord's power, have been made sons of God. We looked at that last week.
Being made sons of God, we have the spirit of adoption, His loving
adoption that spread forth in our heart. It's the adoption
of God Our Gracious Father, not only has the Spirit of God been
made known to us that we've been born into the Kingdom of God
and made children of God, but we also are made heirs of grace,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. being
in union with Christ, being made one with Him, being found in
Him, we have all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. God has given us much grace now,
and He will, by His eternal purpose, give us all glory forever. Now, verse 18, while we live
here in this flesh, I reckon, Paul says, that the sufferings
of this present time, this present life, are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us and to us. Now the Apostle Paul was a chosen
vessel to bear the name of God unto the Gentile world. And yet
when you read through the book of Acts, and when you read of
the ministry of the Apostle Paul, Oh, I tell you, he had much suffering. And he suffered not because of
his own personal sins, he suffered because he stood for the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it cost him his reputation,
his family, his popularity, but he never compromised the gospel
to get along, did he? He was faithfully preaching the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he suffered much for it.
Now, if you'll find 2 Timothy chapter 3, let's see if we can
find out something about that. The sufferings of this present
time. Now, we know a little bit about
persecution for the gospel, but not much. We don't know much
about suffering for the gospel like the early church did, 2
Timothy chapter 3. Like the early church did, they
suffered greatly. You remember the apostles were
gathered before that Jewish Sanhedrin court and they were beaten for
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they were threatened,
remember, not to mention his name one more time. And they went out rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his glory. Now, what a blessing it is to
be persecuted, not because you're an ornery person. You ought to
be persecuted if you're an ornery, cantankerous person. But when
you stand for the gospel of God's grace and preach the gospel of
God's grace, and you're persecuted for the gospel, I tell you, you
ought to count it a privilege to do so. Now, 2 Timothy 3 verse
11. He said persecutions, afflictions
which came unto me at Antioch and Iconium at Lystra. Remember what happened at Lystra?
He was stoned. He was stoned and drug out of
the city as a dead man. Some people even think he did
die. And that's when he was said, you remember his testimony, I
was carried to the third heaven and couldn't even, I couldn't
even tell you what the things I saw, but he was stoned there
at Lystra and what persecutions I endured, but out of them, all
the Lord delivered me. Yea, all that will live godly
in Christ. Now he's not talking about morality.
You'll never be persecuted for your morality, but now you take
a stand for the gospel. of God's sovereign saving grace,
all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution. Now, that's just so. That's just
so. That's just the way it is. Let's
find another scripture. But the Lord gives us great encouragement
in the time of trial. Find 2 Corinthians 4. The suffering
of this present time. I reckon I reckon I counted all
joy. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, look
at verse 15. For all things are for your sakes,
all things. Boy, that covers a lot of ground,
doesn't it? All things are for your sake, that the abundant,
that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God, for which cause we faint not.
Though the outward man perish, yet their inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more and exceeding
and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at things which
are seen, but the things which are not seen, for the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. being persecuted for the gospel. I've got another reference here
I want us to read. Find 1 Peter 1 Peter 1 and he talks about the
trial of our faith. The trial of your faith. Now
saving faith will be tried. Trials do not produce faith.
Trials reveal whether faith is real or phony. 1 Peter 1, verse
6, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptation, that the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold, that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto
the praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
whom having not seen you love, and whom though now you see him
not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable, full of
glory, receiving the end of your faith, even a salvation of your
soul." Now I reckon, I reckon, Paul says here, back in Romans
8.18, you got it? I reckon that the suffering of
this present life, not worthy, to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed. You remember we ran into that
word before back in Romans 6 verse 11, that word reckon, turn over
there, Romans 6 verse 11. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord." Reckon, and it means count it to be so, dead
to sin and alive unto God. It is certain and sure. And then
he says, I reckon, you can count on this, this is certain and
sure, that the sufferings of this present life cannot be compared
with eternal glory, which we have in Christ Jesus. There's no comparison. No comparison. He gives us all grace now for
every trial. He said, my grace is sufficient.
But when this life is done, glory forever. Glory forever. Now look at verse 19. For the
earnest expectation, and we want to change this word here in verse
19, verse 20, and 21 to the same word that is given down in verse
22, the whole creation groaneth. And if you look it up in the
original, it is the exact same word. And I think it better helps
us to understand what's being said here in verse 19. For the earnest expectation the
earnest, the token, the pledge, the expectation of the creation,
waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. Now, I believe
that's referring to that resurrection glory. I believe that's referring
to when the Lord comes back with 10,000 of his saints, found over
here in 1 Thessalonians chapter four. The creation is waiting
just as we are. We're waiting for the coming
of the Lord. were to look for the coming of the Lord. And the
whole creation has an earnest expectation waiting for the Lord
Jesus Christ, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of
God in that glorious resurrection day. 1 Thessalonians 4 verse
14, For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Him, in the Lord, will God bring with
Him, For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that
we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent or precede them which are asleep. For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall
be raised up. Glorious resurrection day. And
then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, so shall we
ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. The manifestation of the sons
of God, the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain and tell
this glorious day when the Lord comes back and makes a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness." Now, not only
did sin enter into man, but sin also affected the whole creation
of God. You remember back in Genesis
chapter 3. Turn over there. We'll read this
reference in Genesis chapter 3 about when God pronounced judgment
upon Adam and upon the woman. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 17,
you remember the Lord said the ground was cursed. Now the Lord,
when He created all things, He said, and it is good. When He
created light, and the sea, and man, He said all these things
were good until sin entered in and marred the creation of God. Genesis 3, 17. And unto Adam
He said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and
hath eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat." Remember the Lord said, when you do, you'll
die. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou
eat of it all the days of thy life. Certainly, we have experienced
the truth of what God is saying here. Thorns also when thistles. shall it bring forth to thee,
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, in the sweat of thy
face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground,
for out of it what thou takest, for dust thou art, And thus thou
shalt return. This body is going back to the
ground. Every time I dig a hole in the
ground and smell that earth, that earth has a smell to it,
that dirt has a smell to it. And I think of this body, what
you are, dirt. Dust in the wind. Dust in the
wind, but the ground is cursed. That's why when, you remember
the offering between Cain and Abel? Abel brought the firstling
of the flock, the blood sacrifice. What did Cain bring? He brought
that fruit of the ground. What did we just read? The ground
was cursed. His offering was cursed. God
had no respect to it. It's the blood that makes the
atonement for our soul. Even the whole creation, right
now, is waiting for the glorious return of the Lord when he comes
again with his saints, with the voice of an archangel, with the
trump of God, and when all the saints will be raised from the
dead. The whole creation waits for
this glorious day. There will be also at that time
a destruction of the earth as we know it, cleansing by fire, Remember,
the elements shall melt with a fervent heat, and the Lord
said, I'll make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. That's where believers will dwell
forever. Now, I can't figure out in my
mind the timing of all these events. It's all going to happen
just like that. In a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, done. It's done. All this will take
place, the resurrection, the judgment, the new creation, all
that will be done just in a flash of lightning. Now, look at verse
20. For the creation was made subject
to vanity for one reason. One reason. That one reason is
sin, isn't it? not willingly, but by reason
of him who hath subjected the same in hope." The whole creation
has a hope of being made renewed without sin. The whole creation
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. The creation in
its fallen state is subject to vanity, decay, disease, disasters,
because of sin, because of sin. One old writer said, for sin,
the sin of man hath cursed the creation and subjected it to
vanity and corruption. This was by the sovereign will
of God, but also the creation has a good hope of being recreated
into what the old timers called the pristine estate. That is man to the creation of
God before sin entered into this world. Now, as we view creation,
and I love the outdoors. I love the mountains, the sky,
the clouds, the rain, the storm, all those different things in
creation. We hear the bird singing. And this creation as we see it
through these fallen eyes is marvelous, isn't it? It's marvelous
to me. But think of that pristine original
estate of God's creation before sin entered in. Man, can you
imagine? He's going to make a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth, dwelleth righteousness. No sin. No sin whatsoever. Verse 21,
Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into a glorious liberty of the children of God. The whole creation shall be delivered
from the corruption of sin, likened to the glory, liberty, and freedom
of the sons of God, the children of God, the heirs of God, and
the joint heirs of Christ, redemption of the whole creation, the plants,
the trees, the animals, and all things, with no sin and no death. Can you imagine Adam's thoughts
in his mind? You know, before sin entered
in, I don't know how long Adam lived upon this creation before
sin entered in. It could be millions of years,
thousands of years, I don't know. But imagine after in all those
years that Adam lived upon the earth before he sinned against
God, there was never one creature that died. There was no sin. The animals lived as long as
Adam did, but when he sinned, death entered in to all creation. Can you imagine Adam seeing for
the first time an animal that had died? He thought, just think what's
going through his mind. What have I done? Not only brought
death upon me, death upon my wife, death upon my family, but
the death of all creation. What a tremendous guilt that
must have been for him. But I like the way Genesis 3
ends. God redeemed him. and covered
him with that blood atonement that he provided. Now look at
verse 22, for the whole we know, here's what we know, we know
this, that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now. The whole creation groaned. Have you ever heard creation
groan? You ever been in an earthquake? We've had some earthquakes around
here. But I remember when I was a very young child, I must have
been in about fourth or fifth grade, I was laying in bed one
school morning, about time to get up, but I didn't know exactly
what time it was, and my bed started, my bed started, I mean,
it was going all over, shaking in the room. And I thought, well,
my dad's shaking my bed. And I woke up, there was nobody
there. Oh, wow. I was terrified. But that whole
creation, earth was groaning, the house was creaking and breaking. The whole creation groaned. And
I think of that when you see these disasters
that come about and you see the whole creation groaning under
the burden of sin, the judgment and curse of sin, earthquakes,
Hurricanes, wildfires, we've seen all this this year, haven't
we? Earthquakes down in Mexico, hurricanes,
Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, wildfires. Boy, California is
about to burn up, isn't it? Groanings, groanings, judgments
of God against sin entering in through this creation. One day
we'll not have any. wildfires, earthquakes, and a
new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. We know
this too, that all of this is according to the will of God.
According to the will of God. Turn over just one or two pages,
5 and Romans 11. By reason of him that hath subjected
the same in hope. God has a reason for everything
He does. And his reason is perfect? Shall
not the judge of all the earth do right? Romans 11, look what
it says in verse 33, "...O the depth of the riches, both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Who hath been his counselor?
or who was first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto
him again. For of him, and through him,
and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. All things are of the Lord. Sin entered into this creation,
into man, into the whole creation, not by accident, but by purpose. And we know that because the
remedy was already standing as a surety of the everlasting covenant
before Adam ever sinned, Christ stood. Before there was a sinner,
there was a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So, nothing caught
God by surprise. It's all according to the sovereign
will of God. Now, look at verse 23. Romans
8. And not only they, but ourselves also. And we have
the firstfruits of the Spirit. We have tasted that the Lord
is gracious. We have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness. But we, ourselves,
we groan within ourselves. What we groan over? I know we
have aches and pains in this body, and we groan. We groan,
don't we? But this groaning here, I believe,
is talking about groaning over the fact of our sin against God. As it says over here, remember
Romans chapter 7? In Romans 7 verse 18, For I know
that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For the
will is present with me, but how to perform that which is
good I find not. Groaning, groaning over our sin,
inability, inability. Satisfy God. Verse 24, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I serve
the law of God, but with the flesh, sin, the principle of
sin. And not only they, but ourselves
also. which have the first fruit of
the Spirit, and we do. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. But we also, we ourselves, grown
within ourselves, waiting, waiting. What are we waiting for? Waiting
for the redemption of our body. Now, this flesh is going back
to the dust. We just read that a moment ago.
Back to the dust. Dust thou art, and dust thou
shalt return. But out of that dust, of this
tabernacle of clay that we put in the ground, or wherever it's
deposited. Some people have their bodies
cremated and their ashes scattered to the wind. I think those people
who do that are trying to hide from God. They think if they
just disperse their ashes so far that at the resurrection
day they won't have to face God in judgment. But He's going to
take every speck of dust, of ashes, and there's going to be
a resurrection of the just and of the unjust. those who are
justified in Christ, and those who are ungodly. But we have
a good hope, a glorious hope of a resurrection, our body being
raised from the dead. You see, when He redeemed us,
He redeemed us soul and spirit and body. We're going to have
a new body, like unto His resurrected body. What kind of body did He
have? He had a real body, didn't He?
out of that same lump of clay that died because of sin. He
said, behold my hands, my feet, my side. He ate with them. They
knew him and they knew one another. We're going to have a real body
like unto our glorious Lord that will never get sick, will never
get tired, will never need another doctor, will never have any problem
with sin or sickness. just in eternal glory, the redemption
of our body. He redeemed us. When you ever
think of redemption, which the word means deliverance, it's
deliverance by blood sacrifice. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.