Romans 8 always has proved popular with God's people. As followers of the Great Reformation we rejoice in the themes of justification, election, regenera­tion, and preservation in this chapter 8. We exult in the eternal security Paul describes:

• There is now no condemnation to those in Christ.
   
• The Spirit regenerates, sanctifies and resurrects you.
   
• You are children of God and co-heirs with Christ.
   
• An incomparable glory awaits you.
   
• God has predestined you; yes, all things must work together for your good.
   
• God gave his Son for you; who then can condemn you?
   
• Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Jesus Christ.

These treasures from God through Jesus stir our hearts.

Even in our land of peace and prosperity we must face the harsh realities of disease and death. We need doctors and hospitals. We too must go to the cemetery to bury the body of loved ones. The last enemy still hounds us.

Christians in Rome suffered many hardships, as Paul makes clear in this chapter. The apostle mentions death, principalities and powers, tribu­lation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness and sword. Quite a list of horrors! In history books you and I read about these faithful Christians in Rome, living and hiding in the catacombs from the madman Caesar Nero. Those sufferings frighten us. What if they happened to us? How could we endure?

Obviously these suffering followers of Jesus need hope and courage instilled into them. Paul does this in our text, pointing strongly to the glory that awaits each suffering Christian. As Jesus went from suffering into heavenly glory, so shall faithful followers. So we must not lose heart, even if the present sufferings are great, weighty.

Yet Paul does not dwell on the negatives. Instead he points ahead to the glory we will receive, when Jesus reveals the new heaven and the new earth. We just cannot compare the coming glory to the present sufferings. Paul offers hope!

As we suffer sickness or disease or bereavement here on earth we tend to look at how things could be without the lung cancer or without the debilitating effects of a stroke or how things could return to their normal beauty if a loved one was still here on earth. We compare things with how they used to be. So we compare our sufferings to what we enjoyed before those sufferings came along. This is a normal response. Yet sickness and death teach us more lessons. One simple lesson is to appreciate each day God gives, to appreciate each other every day God gives under the sun.

But there is more to learn. Paul entertains a different comparison. He compares our sufferings to what will be in store for us in the future. I refer first of all to the heavenly glory with Jesus in the midst of all the saints. The angels carry us home to this glory when we die. Later on when Jesus comes in glory to this earth, we inherit the glory of the new Jerusalem in the presence of God! In fact we will have glory revealed in us. Our weakened and diseased bodies will undergo a transformation to become like Christ's glorious body.

Paul's conclusion is that we cannot compare the present sufferings with the glory to be revealed in us! Just meditate on that thought!

The Incomparable Glory to be revealed to you⤒🔗

Paul demonstrates this with three witnesses:

1. The unconscious groaning of creation;
2. The semi-conscious groaning of God's children.
3. The fully conscious groaning of the Spirit.

1. The Unconscious groaning of creation.←↰⤒🔗

In his argument that you cannot compare the present sufferings to the glory God will reveal to you Paul uses an OT rule. You need to see his line of argument. Otherwise parts of this chapter remain a mystery for you as reformed believers.

I refer, for example, to the verses 16 and17 just before our text. "The Spirit witnesses with our spirits that we are children of God." In the history of the reformed churches this text has caused much debate. Many saw in this text a reference to the work of the Spirit in our hearts to convince us we are children of God. Often they waited and waited for the Spirit to give them a special message, a sign, that convinces them of this. I have shepherded persons who never received assurance that they were God's children. Up to their dying hours they still waited for that special message from the Spirit to their spirits. It never came. How sad!

Yet they were convinced that this text teaches that the Spirit will witness in their hearts that they are a child of God. They even point to a sentence in our Belgic Confession, article 5, which reads,

We believe (all these books of the Bible) ... not so much because the church receives and approves them as such, but especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts that they are from God.

See, it speaks of the Spirit witnesses in our hearts. The same language, they claim. But this would put your assurance of faith on loose screws, on something besides the Word of God. The Bible is not enough. The Spirit must provide more for your final security.

What gives the clue to the right understanding of this passage, and also of our passage? It is the term, witnesses. Paul does not speak of persuading your heart with a special message. No, Paul speaks of witnessing, testifying. Paul points to two witnesses who both testify that you are a child of God. These two witnesses are the Spirit who dwells in you, and your own spirit that cries out in prayer, Abba, Father! Your prayer testifies that God is your Father. The Spirit also prays for you. So He adds his testimony to that from you. Two witnesses say the same thing. Then it must be true. So there is no special message here from the Spirit to your spirit. Instead the Spirit adds his testimony to the testimony of your lips in prayer.

Here you have the OT rule of Moses. If you want to establish a case of law, if you want to be able to make a solid judgment, then you need two or three witnesses who say the same thing. Then a judge can come to a sound verdict. You find this rule in various places in the OT. Allow me to quote just one:

One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. Deut 19:15

Just before our text Paul uses this rule to argue that we are children of God. Two witnesses say the same thing. In our text Paul applies this same rule.

His major argument is: your present sufferings cannot be compared to the glory that will be revealed to you. This is the theme for our sermon. To clinch this argument Paul brings forth three witnesses who all say the same thing. The three witnesses appear in our three points – creation, you as God's children and the Holy Spirit.

Once you have understood Paul's method of argument, then you can appreciate how this champion advocate clinches his main theme.

For I consider. As an adopted child of God and as a co-heir with Christ Paul, and we all, know and consider that the present sufferings cannot be compared to the glory that awaits us. Paul was even more sure of this because God allowed him a special privilege. Before Paul began his ministry as apostle to the Gentiles, before all his many and horrific sufferings, Jesus gave this special apostle a glimpse of glory. The Spirit trans­ported him to the third heaven, into paradise, where he saw the glory of God. He heard things which he was not allowed to pass on. Do you think Paul ever forgot this!? Never! No wonder he courageously suffered for the gospel and for his Lord. You may not enjoy this same privilege, but the Bible gives you the same assurance.

Paul notes the terrible suffering of the believers in Rome. He will neither bypass them nor can He. He may not. This weighs heavily on the hearts of God's children in Rome. He must address this problem. They need hope. Time and again in this passage he describes the groanings, the moaning in pain, and the cries for help. Have you seen your family dog groan in pain? We say, put it down mercifully and out of its misery. Have you seen a loved one in terrible pain? We find it hard to witness this, and do everything to relieve such pain.

By comparison we enjoy tremendous privileges as Christians without any of the terrible sufferings of the Roman Christians. Yet we too must face disease, ageing and death. These dreadful realities hit us too. What do we say then? Shall we blithely sing,

Come fellow pilgrims, heads then high
The hills are level, seas are dry?

When a bitter and grievous trial weighs you down, it is hard enough just to keep hanging in there. Paul sees they need sound comfort, hope. This rock-solid hope encourages us too, brothers and sisters, boys and girls.

Consider first of all God's creation. As you inspect this wondrous world of your Father, you stand astounded. Its beauty amazes you.

But more than that in our land of Australia its resil­ience, its ability to absorb punishment and keep on going, astounds you even more. For in Scripture you so often read that creation is subjected to futility because of man's rebellion against God. God cursed the earth with more than thorns and thistles. Vanity of vanity, all is vanity. Creation lies under the curse of meaning­lessness.

You see this futility so often. Man's greed causes many species of animals to die out, become extinct. The ozone layer becomes depleted and the rays of the sun beat cancerously on people. In the tropics cold and hot air mix over the ocean and cause cyclones. These violent, high winds destroy the face of the earth, uprooting trees and forests, and killing birds and animals. Lightning storms set the forests ablaze. Trees, bushes and animals all die. Even in bushfires lit by firebugs in our metro area, you note the blackened desolation. Creation suffers much because of man's disobedience. It is futile!

Yet creation is resilient, as we said. The blackened forest recovers and soon turns fresh green, short and small at first. But it grows. It recovers, in hope!

Here in Australia this aspect of God's creation strikes one in many ways. The interior deserts, like the Gibson Desert, are harsh, hot and horrible places in summer. How can anything grow or survive here? For years they suffer droughts and famines. Yet after so many years the big wet arrives. The desert blossoms, for example, with Sturt Desert Peas. The dried riverbeds with their many arms flow and overflow. The dried up lakes start to fill up. And almost immediately the transformation takes place. Fish live and spawn in the lakes. Pelicans arrive. Creation revives.

Creation keeps going. It has hope! Unconsciously, it keeps going toward the new earth when no curse subjects it to futility any more. In the Garden of Eden fruit trees grow abundantly, giving fruit every month! There is hope!

Why does creation keep going? Does it know its final destination? Does it hope to overcome its futility? We often speak of the instinct of nature. Does nature have such an inborn instinct for survival? I do not think so.

Unconsciously, the rivers keep flowing to the ocean till the flow becomes a trickle. Do the rivers give up? No! The rains come and the rivers flow once more into the estuaries and so into the ocean. They do so uncon­sciously. God keeps them going and flowing. It seems an endless water-cycle.

Paul describes creation as groaning with labor pangs so it can be delivered from its bondage to decay and destruction. So they are not death pangs but birth-pains. Paul looks at from the perspective of hope. God subjected creation to futility because of the disobedi­ence of people, the crown of creation. What sorrow we bring, also to creation. Yet God brings hope. God subjected creation to futility in hope! Paul accents this last thought. Creation longs to be delivered, to share in the glory and freedom of the children of God. For this reason it keeps going. The rivers keep flowing, in spite of dry periods. Riverbeds may even disappear underground. But the rivers do not die. Every fall and winter the hills turn green once more. In spring the sandy surface, which has endured so much heat and wind, rises in new life with the beauty of color.

For hundreds and thousands of years this world keeps going, going toward the time of labor, birth-pangs and delivery of a brand new creation. This is why it keeps going. Oh, creation does not understand it.

Unconsciously it groans now, eagerly awaiting the day of deliverance. God who subjected it to futility, gives it hope, the hope of glory, of a glorious new creation. Even as the earth shares the curse of death on mankind, so the earth will share in the glory of God for mankind on the new earth.

Many worry that this earth will not last. They worry that their children will inherit a ravaged earth. And indeed this earth does grow old; it wears out. Much of it is man's fault. You can also tell your neighbours that this earth will not last. All this may cause them grief, because this world is the be all and the end all for them. There is no other earth for them.

You and I know that this world will not last. As we sang with the words of Psalm 102,

God didst lay the earth's foundation,
Mighty God of all creation.
God didst frame the vast extent
Of the lofty firmament.
But they both shall fall and tumble;
What may seem secure shall crumble.
Like a garment one may cherish,
So will they wear out and perish. stanza 10, BOP

But this is not the end of the story of creation. You may tell your neighbours how Jesus will renew and transform this planet to pristine glory. Creation eagerly waits for the day of glory, when glory is revealed to you. Creation shares your glory. It testifies to you that glory will come to you.

No wonder many of the psalms include creation in the hope of glory. For instance,

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands'
Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.Psalm 98:7-9

The glory is not here (yet). Creation hopes for it.

You too must look forward to it. When you lose loved ones, when troubles hit you and sorrow overwhelms you, remember that these present sufferings cannot be compared to the glory that God will unveil to you. Creation attests to it. Learn the lesson of hope from creation. Its unconscious groaning testifies to the coming glory. For creation waits to be delivered from the curse on it, and to share in the glory you will enjoy.

Creation teaches you to have hope!

2. The Semi-conscious groaning of God's children.←↰⤒🔗

Not only creation but we also who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

Your groaning means much more. You are people who have a mind, a heart and emotions. You can understand. God has made you understand.

You enjoy the first-fruits of the Spirit.

What are those first-fruits of the Spirit? The Spirit himself is a main part of the down-payment, the guarantee, of your full inheritance. The Spirit works faith in your hearts. The Spirit produces fruit in your lives – love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness and forgiveness, to mention a few. The Spirit enlightens your eyes to understand the Bible and to understand God's creation. You start to see and to understand. Oh, you still look in a mirror dimly, as Paul puts it. You really do not know everything in store for you. As a result you groan for the coming glory semi-consciously. You have tasted the goodness of God's grace in your lives. You want more. What the future glory holds you know only in part. But it makes you hungry for more.

You have the appetiser, the first fruits, and now you want the main course!

A loved one lies dying. Often they groan within themselves. Sometimes they groan and ask God to relieve them of sufferings. Take me home into glory, they groan and pray.

You were saved in this hope of glory. But hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But hope makes you look forward; makes you wait eagerly.

Hope! An expectant mother looks forward to the birth of a child. Will it be a boy or girl? She prepares the baby's room – a cot with a change-table, clothes and blankets. Of course, she must still get through labour and delivery. Similarly, you as God's children look forward to glory. The time of expectation takes not months but years and centuries. Yet the time draws nearer and nearer. Of course, death still looms too, but as a type of labor-and­ delivery room through which we pass into glory.

So you too are witnesses that the coming glory is so wonderful that you cannot compare it with the present sufferings.

3. The Fully conscious groaning of the Spirit.←↰⤒🔗

The third and last witness is the Spirit Himself.

Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

This third witness also groans. One who groans often suffers, moans with pain, and groans for relief from pain. If only...!

The Spirit knows your weaknesses. The Spirit who dwells within you knows you by character. He experi­ences your frailties, your struggles. Though you cannot hear his prayers, here on earth the Spirit intercedes for you in prayer. His groanings are too deep for words. They are unutterable, inexpressible. But God hears them. The Spirit groans in prayer, just as Jesus groaned in prayer when He saw the weeping crowds at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus often groaned, as in the Garden of Gethsemane. The other Counsellor does the same for you.

You need those prayers of the Spirit. Often you do not know what to pray for. But the other Counsellor knows exactly what you need. In overall terms the Spirit works for your sanctification – a new and holy life. He wants to complete the work of Jesus.

When situations arise in which you stand confused as to what to pray, the Spirit helps you.

Now God who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

So God always hears and approves the intercession of the Spirit.

What does the Spirit ask for ultimately? It is nothing less than glory, a brand new life in the land of glory in the glorious presence of God.

So the Spirit who restores the face of creation in spring-time with fresh, green growth and beautiful colour also heaves and groans for your full restoration.

The Spirit does so fully conscious of what you need and want. The Spirit is God who shares blinding glory with the Father and the Son. You will share it.

So there are three witnesses who say the same thing:

1. The unconscious groaning of creation;
2. The semi-conscious groaning of God's children.
3. The fully conscious groaning of the Spirit.

They all say that glory comes, incomparable glory. Thus endure, keep going, have hope just like creation. Do not give up in troublesome times. Glory awaits you. The Spirit groans in prayer for you. Eagerly look forward! Meanwhile, may this hope make you productive in service to Jesus! Amen.