Groans and Great Hopes

Order of Service

• Prelude
• Welcome and Announcements
• Call to Worship — Psalm 103:1-2, 20-22
• Hymn — Praise to the Lord, the Almighty (#216)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 23 (Q&A 59–60)
• Hymn of the Month — His Robes for Mine
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Romans 8:18-25
• Sermon
• Hymn — Christ Is Coming (#390)
• Benediction — Numbers 6:24-26

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Sermon Title: Groans and Great Hopes

Scripture: Romans 8:18-25

I. Introduction: The Christian Life Is a Life of Waiting

A. Paul shifts from the pairing of flesh/spirit (vv. 2–16) to the pairing of suffering and glory (vv. 17–30)

B. Suffering and glory are not opposed; they belong to the same people — Christ's people

1. There is no glory without suffering for believers
2. Paul introduced this in Romans 8:17: our inheritance is suffering and glory to come

C. The central question Paul anticipates: How am I to think about this suffering?

D. Paul's answer (Romans 8:18): the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed

E. Two illustrations of waiting amid suffering

1. The engaged couple: committed but not yet together, suffering while longing for what is to come
2. The minor league baseball player: drafted but not yet in the majors, enduring hardship while hoping for the call-up

F. Main theme: You must suffer now, waiting for the glory to come that is better

II. Take Comfort Because Your Waiting Is by God's Good Design

A. The God of Scripture is not the deist's clockmaker God; he is sovereign over all of history

1. Westminster Confession: God "freely and unchangeably ordains whatsoever comes to pass"
2. God is creator, planner, ordainer, and sustainer — intimately involved in all things unto his glory

B. The pattern of God's design for creation (Romans 8:19-21)

1. Creation waits with "tiptoe anticipation" — eager expectation — for the revealing of the sons of God
2. Creation was subjected to futility (the same word as "vanity" in Ecclesiastes) — frustration pervades the natural world
3. God himself is the one who subjected creation (Genesis 3: cursing the ground with thorns and thistles)
4. But the subjection was in hope — always with a designed trajectory toward freedom
5. Creation will be set free from bondage to corruption and share in the freedom of the glory of the children of God — the new heavens and new earth
6. This was not Plan B; it was God's design from the beginning: light out of darkness, wholeness after ruin

C. The renewal of our bodies and the renewal of creation are tied together

1. Christ's resurrection is the pattern; the redemption of our bodies will bring about creation renewed
2. Isaiah 53: the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand — redeemed offspring in body and soul

D. The promise of God's design for his children (Romans 8:23)

1. If creation waits with eager longing, how much more ought the children of God?
2. We who have the first fruits of the Spirit wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies
3. Romans 8:11: he who raised Christ will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit
4. Revelation 21:4: God will wipe away every tear; death, mourning, crying, and pain will be no more

E. Unlike the baseball player, the believer has a guarantee: this end is purposed and promised by God himself

III. Take Comfort Because Your Waiting Is with Groaning Hope

A. Groaning marks our waiting

1. The word appears dozens of times across Scripture; sometimes translated "sighing"
2. A groan is an audible feeling — it cannot be suppressed; it must be let out
3. Creation groans together in the pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22); see also Joel 1:18: the beasts groan, the herds are perplexed

B. We ourselves groan inwardly (Romans 8:23)

1. Things are not now as they ought to be; things are not yet as they will be
2. We are in good company: in Mark 7, Jesus himself groaned as he healed a deaf man — the eternal Son in communion with the Father, groaning at the ravages of the fall
3. Distinction: we have reason to groan, but not to grumble — grumbling is always sinful, always a failure to trust God's goodness

C. Our groaning is a hopeful groaning

1. The illustration of childbirth (Romans 8:22): pain full of eager expectation for the moment the child arrives
2. The mother pushes through pain in hope; so the Christian endures suffering in hope

D. The nature of Christian hope (Romans 8:24-25)

1. We are not saved by hopefulness; we are saved in hope — hope colors our salvation
2. Hope by its very nature requires faith: hope that is seen is not hope
3. Our hopefulness will wax and wane, but the Christian is always in some measure a hopeful person
4. Our hope is better than the baseball player's — it is sure, certain, and guaranteed because its object is accomplished by God in Christ

E. The consequence of hope: patience (Romans 8:25)

1. What we need most in our waiting is patience; what we most struggle with in the flesh is impatience
2. Paul is not calling us to muster up patience in our own strength or to change our personality
3. Patience in waiting is part of the fruit of the Spirit — a Spirit-wrought trait
4. What Paul calls in 1 Thessalonians a steadfastness of hope
5. You are supported in your suffering by the Spirit who dwells in you; God reinforces you with every resource you need for every day of your waiting

F. Closing exhortation

1. The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed
2. The day is coming when it will be said: the time of waiting is over
3. Wait for it. Hope for it. Be patient. Trust in the goodness and kindness of your Savior who helps you along the way