Last time in Romans, we saw how there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The law of the Spirit of life has set us free from the law of sin and death. Jesus came and condemned sin in the flesh by dying on the cross in our place, and now the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us. We now live a life characterized by obedience because the Holy Spirit lives in us and leads us into righteousness. We ended with Paul beginning his discussion on suffering, and how believers need to be willing to suffer on their journey toward Heaven. There are those with misguided theology who do not believe Christians should suffer, but the Bible states otherwise.
The suffering Paul is referring to here is the suffering that resulted from The Fall. This can be persecution for being a Christian, pain and sorrow, sickness and disease, and ultimately death. However, what believers are gaining (the glory which will be revealed in them) far surpasses anything they might lose in this life. They have escaped Hell, and are inheriting eternal life with a resurrected body. This does not mean they cannot grieve or experience the emotions that go with pain and suffering, but that there is comfort in it that they would not have if it weren’t for the Lord. Although believers are promised suffering, they are also promised hope in their suffering. Paul will give us several reasons why we can have hope in our suffering.
One reason that believers have hope in suffering is that creation will be restored. Even the creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of God (you and me at the second coming of Christ). The creation was subjected to futility, but it was subjected by Him who did it in hope. God allowed the curse of sin not only to affect mankind, but the entire universe. It was subjected in hope, because it too will be delivered from corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. This is speaking of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. Isaiah writes of that time, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:6-9) It would appear from this passage and others like it that the Lord will restore the planet to a state much resembling what it was prior to The Fall, and this will last 1,000 years before the Lord creates a new heaven and new earth.
Paul likens this process to a woman in labor: it groans and labors in birth pains to the present, but one day soon it will be delivered. We don’t have to look far to see that creation is groaning in labor pains. We have massive storms, earthquakes, floods, and devastating fires that are wreaking havoc on the globe. Those who like to politicize the problem blame it on climate change, but it’s just a sign the planet is getting old. The author of Hebrews, quoting God the Father says, “But to the Son He says: ’Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.’ And: ‘You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed.’” (Heb 1:8-12) Jesus created everything, He will restore or renovate it if you will for the millennial reign, and, one day, He will exchange the old garment for a new one. John wrote in Revelation, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’” (Rev 21:1-4)
The second reason believers have hope is that they will receive a new body. We who have the first fruits of the Spirit have a taste of the glory that is to come. We too, are groaning within ourselves, eagerly awaiting the consummation of our adoption which is the redemption of our bodies. Sickness, death, and even just the aging process are proof of this.
Believers were saved in hope. This is the hope that the Lord will redeem our physical bodies and the rest of creation, but we cannot see it now. That is what makes it hope, having a confident and joyful expectation of what God is going to do. We eagerly await it with perseverance, meaning it is not easy at times. However, we have these promises from the Lord in the Scriptures: “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thes 4:13-18) And if we remember from last time, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Co 15:50-57) Jesus has conquered sin and death, and if we believe in Him, we will too!
A third reason believers have hope in suffering is that the Holy Spirit prays for them. In times of great pain and suffering, believers know they should pray, but don’t always know what to pray. Maybe the grief is such that they are kept awake at night and cannot even find the strength to pray. Asaph said, “You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.” (Ps 77:4) In those times The Scriptures state that the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses by making intercession with groanings that cannot be uttered. There are those who like to attribute this to the gift of tongues, but this doesn’t seem likely since they are groanings rather than words. They are also done by the Holy Spirit rather than by the person. Here we see the Father and the Holy Spirit working together. The Father, through the Holy Spirit, searches believers’ hearts, and makes intercession for them. The Father knows the mind of the Spirit even though words are not being expressed.
A fourth reason believers can have hope in suffering is that God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Now, most of us have heard this verse so often that it almost sounds cliché. However, this does not change the fact that it is true. He works all things together for our good no matter how bad our circumstances are or whether or not we can see it. He has called us, and has a purpose for us. Understandably, it can be difficult to believe this in the midst of tragedy, because we just cannot see how anything good can come out of our suffering. It takes faith to believe this, and sometimes an incredible amount of it. However, Paul tells us why we can believe this to be true.
He states, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” people get hung up on this word ‘predestined’ depending on whether they lean more towards Calvinism or Arminianism, but I think we need to look at it in light of God’s unchanging character as taught in the rest of Scripture. In Malachi 3:6, the Lord states, “I am the Lord, I do not change.” Predestination is connected to His foreknowledge. Foreknowledge means to know in advance, and predestined means to predetermine or decide beforehand. So, God knew in advance who would respond to the Gospel, and therefore, pre-determined who would be conformed into the image of Christ. The Lord is willing that none should perish, so the idea that He arbitrarily decides from the beginning who would and would not get saved is not consistent with the rest of Scripture.
Those He predestined, he also called through the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 6:44 and 16:7-11). Those whom He called He also justified as explained in chapters 3:21-5:2, and those whom He justified, the same He also glorified. Believers were glorified at salvation when they received the Holy Spirit along with their new nature, and they will be glorified again with their new bodies.
We can trust that God works all things together for our good because He is for us, and if He is for us, who can be against us? If He would not hold back His own Son from dying for us, why would He not freely give us anything else through Jesus Christ? What more could He have given us? Our past sins cannot keep us from God working all things together for our good, because we have been justified by faith. Neither can our present or future sins keep us from this good, because Jesus died, rose again, and now is at the right hand of God making intercession for us. The author of Hebrews writes, “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Heb 7:25) The apostle John also writes, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 Jn 2:1-2) When we sin, we come to our advocate, Jesus, who is interceding to the Father for us.
Lastly, the fourth reason believers have hope in suffering is that the Lord loves us. Paul asks the question, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’” In times of great trial, it can be easy to doubt the Lord’s love for us. “If the Lord loves me, why would He let this happen,” we might ask? We can allow the emotion of the experience to overshadow what we know to be true. What is true is that the Lord does love us, and He proved it by going to the cross for us. It may seem based on what we are going through that we are victims to the evil that is being inflicted on us, but the Scriptures state we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. I had a pastor that used to say, “we win, and we win big.” Again, Jesus has conquered sin and death, and is coming back to administer justice on sinful humanity. We as believers are coming with Him.
Not only does He love us, nothing can separate us from this love. Paul answers his question, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is nothing or no one that can separate us from God’s love. It’s not given to us based off our performance, but based off His nature “For God is love.” (1 Jn 4:8) This, perhaps, is the greatest consolation in our suffering, because if we believe the Lord loves us, then we can trust that whatever He allows our way is for the best and that He will work all things together for our good.
In Summary, believers have hope in suffering. God foreknew us, predestined us, called us, justified us, and glorified us. He loves us and works all things together for our good. One day, we will meet the Lord in the air, and will receive resurrected bodies. There will be a new heaven and earth, and pain, sorrow, and death will be no more. In the following three chapters, Paul will begin discussing God’s plans for the nation of Israel. Many in the Church think that God is done with the nation of Israel, replacing it with the church, but as we will see, this is not true.
