Michael Warren, July 17, 2022, Facing Suffering In Hope, Romans 8:18-39

When you look out into the world right now, what do you see?
- Do you see beauty? Or do you see suffering?
When you look at the reality of your life, right now what do you see?
- Do you see beauty? Or do you see suffering?
Did you expect more when you became a believer?
- Easy to look out into our world or into our own lives and think, is this as good as it gets?
The reality is… there is beauty in the world, lots of it.
There is beauty in our lives, lots of it.
But what is also true, is that this world is full of evil and suffering.
- Cancer, sickness, depression, addiction, famine, emptiness, destruction, decay, death…
- There is visceral hatred, discord, misunderstanding, and breakdown everywhere
- Leadership, government, marriage, family.
- Nation against nation, people against people,
- Evil…. Everywhere…
This reality should inspire some great questions…
- Why are we suffering?
- Why is the world evil?
- What is God doing?
- What do I do when I’m stuck?
- Is anything good?
So far in the book of Romans, Paul has been hard at work to define the gospel for the diverse and growing church in Rome…
- He has unpacked…
o The sinfulness of mankind
o Forgiveness of sin through Christ
o Freedom from sin’s grasp
- And he comes to a point in his letter, where he has to address these questions.
- Because for believers and unbelievers, new believers and old believers, these questions can be the biggest objections to the gospel.
- The church in Rome was facing:
o An evil emperor
o Persecution was rising
o And their felt experience might not have matched all that Paul was teaching
o Maybe they too were expecting more…
The end of Romans 8 answers these questions for the church in Rome and for us…

Today, we’re going to take these questions one at a time…

Question 1: Why are we suffering?

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. —Romans 8:18
- Present suffering is part of God’s larger story.
- It might not be part of the story we’d like at any given moment…
- It is so tempting to believe that with the Holy Spirit in our lives, as believers, that everything is going to be victory, ease, success, reward, comfort, and glory…
- But Paul is revealing to Rome and to us, that God has inserted a unique condition in the eras we live in…
- Between the cross and a future reality that has not yet come – suffering is part of it.
- What a strange condition…
- Suffering is entwined into God’s plans.
- If we back up just a little…Verses 16-17 capture this:
16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. —Romans 8:16-17

Question 1: Why are we suffering? Suffering is part of the process of restoring people and restoring the world.

Question 2: Why is the world evil?

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 —Romans 8:19
- In order to understand why the world is evil, we have to go all the way back to Genesis 3
- When sin entered the world through Adam, all of creation was condemned and cursed
- Decay, corruption, frustration, pain, and imperfection took over all the beauty and intended purpose of God’s creation – in people and in the Earth
- Creation, including us, was condemned to wait
- There has never been a time post Genesis 3 where we and creation, haven’t groaned, and found ourselves longing for something more as God’s people.

Question 2: Why is the world evil? Sin broke everything
- But notice, the last words of verse 20
o The creation was subjected to futility… in Hope

Question 3: What is God doing?

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. —Romans 8:21-24
- God is stirring up hope
- God is stirring up hope through our experiences on earth, that the best is yet to come
- God promises and is determined to bring us through our suffering to our future inheritance
- What is our inheritance?
- Our inheritance is that something amazing is going to happen to our minds, our bodies, and our emotions, so that we can fully participate in the worship, enjoyment, and fellowship with Christ that we were originally designed for way back in Genesis 1 and 2.
- God is stirring up hope
- Hope of what? Hope of glory?
- Glory… the promise and the inheritance is that we are headed for glory.
- What is glory? Glory is…
o The final and complete redemption
o The finished work of God
o The finalized and public status as God’s fully redeemed children
o The complete transformation of our bodies – made fully into the image of God’s son
- And in this life, right now, because of the firstfruits of the spirit, God alive in us and through us… we make headway for sure
- Through the Holy Spirit, I am not the man that I was before my relationship with Christ
- Through the Holy Spirit we all get undeniable glimpses of God’s greatness, his goodness, and his glory as His followers
- And we participate as much as we can with the bodies, minds, emotions we have…
- In the time and landscape of creation that we live in…
- And if anything, these glimpses give us an appetite for more!
- After the suffering and the groaning that we contend with here on Earth, we will see and experience an all satisfying beauty and greatness
- We will see it and experience it and we’ll get bodies that enable us to fully participate in the glory that is coming.
- But the words that Paul uses to describe all of this… Birthpains, groaning, longing, suffering…
- God is stirring up hope by…
o Fully leveraging suffering to…
o Lift our eyes off of ourselves, the pleasures of this earth, and the chaos of this life… to Him
o Amplify that there is part of us and part of creation that’s not yet ready or shining like it will someday
o To calibrate our hearts and our love fully toward him
- It’s like God is intentionally causing a divine and unique dissatisfaction in us on our way to our full participation in future glory.
- And if you take divine and special dissatisfaction and you add it to God’s divine and unique promise of a glorious future and what do you get…
- You get hope!

Question 3: What is God doing? God is stirring up hope

Question 4: What should I do when I’m stuck?

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. —Romans 8:26-27
- So… we suffer in a sin sick world, where God is stirring up hope
- And… part of this suffering…
- Is getting stuck in our weakness
- We are or will be weak: physically, in understanding, in perspective…
- We don’t need to beat ourselves up over this.
- God does not condemn us for not knowing the will of God or the next step in this hope journey
- So be weak, be confused…
- Groan a little bit
- God has a plan for that
- You will get stuck, looking at the isolated incidents of your lives, thinking…
o that was a good thing
o that was an evil thing
o that I’m not sure about yet.
- Don’t fall into the trap of pulling out a scorecard and giving God a grade on the individual events of our lives.
o That was good… God is good
o That was bad… God is bad
o That could be good and bad… Is God good and bad?
- Everything that happens to those who are called by God and love God, serves to help them become conformed to Christ.
- And God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us.

The same place where the groanings are, is where the Holy Spirit lives.
And the Holy Spirit is constantly at work to grow us and change us
Maybe you’re facing sickness?
o Is it best to live? To be healed? Or To suffer?
Maybe you’ve got a fork in the road of life, and you’re asking…
o Do I stay and be a witness? Or Do I leave and enter into a new chapter of my growth in Christ?
o Do I step in to trouble? Or Do I stay clear from trouble?
o Do I take a stand? or Do I escape?
Sometimes the words of the Bible don’t settle it for us.
Sometimes the advice of great counsel doesn’t settle it for us.
One aspect of our fallenness is some ignorance about the will of God.
You’re not as stuck as it seems because… God made a provision for that…
God knows how to bring maximum glory to himself in and through our experience
God’s goodness and work in our lives is not limited to what we can clearly understand and express in words.
And prayer will never be about perfect prayers to get God to bring you what you want.
The Holy Spirit knows the fullness of our groanings and the fullness of God’s plans for us.
And we can relax and let the Holy Spirit pray for us.
The Holy Spirit transforms our groans into the right prayers that will most glorify God in his process of restoration in our lives
The Holy Spirit has us covered… in prayer

Question 4: What should I do when I’m stuck? Be weak and let the Spirt pray for you

Question 5: Is there anything Good?

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. —Romans 8:28-30
- Here’s what’s happening here…
- For those who love God, there is a great process at work in-between God’s calling us into relationship with Him and the future promise of glory.
- We need to run every event of our life through the lenses of God’s love, his goodness, and his ultimate promise.
- Literally, according to this verse, all things, when taken together, are doing a good thing.
- This point of this verse is not to ignore pain and suffering.
- The point of this verse is to see that God can and does use even the worst circumstances to bring about good.
- Let’s try on some examples, and see how they lead to good according to God’s promises
- Are you sick today? Not good. God agrees, and one day you will never be sick again and here on earth potentially experience healing and wellness.
- Are you lonely and misunderstood? Not good. God agrees, it’s not good to be alone. One day you will engage ultimate fellowship with Him and ideally, through the church today, some community and belonging
- Are you seriously grieving the death and senseless suffering of the world? God agrees. God is grieving too. And he was willing to sacrifice his own son to deal with this.
- Here’s another thing I think Paul is showing us in Romans 8:28
- Notice how 8:28 says, And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
- Love is a tricky thing with us.
- It’s easy for our love to be misguided and displaced.
- Think about this…
- Misplaced love births misplaced hope
- And misplaced hope can get us all confused about any given situation we face in life.
- If we love: a life free from pain and suffering
- If we love: a convenient life that doesn’t stretch us and change us
- If we love: the comforts of this world and expect instant relief…
- The sound of Romans 8:28 is like nails scratching and dragging on a blackboard…
- Paul is so confident of this future promise that all things work together for good, that in the next two verses, Paul speaks of it in past tense
- And when we speak of something in the past tense, it’s because it has already happened
- Paul is speaking as if God has already done this – because he has:
o If you’re called, you’re saved – you are declared “not guilty”
o Heaven is guaranteed
o And you have already inherited the promise that all things are in God’s hands and you are “in process” by His design, making you more like Jesus
- If you are a child of God, you’re in process
- And you can trust the process.
- Because “all things” are being used by God for the good of helping you become conformed to Christ, preparing you for future glory

Question 5: Is there anything Good? Yes. Love God and trust the process.

Paul continues…
What shall we say to these things?
What things?
- To evil, to suffering, to trials, to God’s process.
What shall YOU say, this week…
- When you scroll social media
- When you hear the news
- When you are stuck in a doom loop in your mind
- When you’re overwhelmed
- Here’s how Paul concludes… ANSWER THESE

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” —Romans 8:31-36

What will You say when you suffering and evil come?
When you face deaths of any kind?
When you’re disoriented in your walk with Christ?
When you’re wondering… is there anything good?

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. —Romans 8:37-39
Suffering is part of the process of restoring people and restoring the world.
Evil is in the world because sin broke everything.
And yet, God uses every single situation we face… ALL THINGS to stir up hope.
Be weak and let the spirit pray for you.
Love God… And trust the process.

Pastors Challenge:

Where is it difficult for you to trust God?
Who can I walk with and encourage toward hope?
Love God… and trust the process.