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INJ
Romans 8:18-23
'Waiting for Adoption'
9 July 2006 | 4th after Trinity
Morning Service
Dear Saints,
The text for our consideration is the Epistle Lesson we've just heard, these words written by St Paul to the church in Rome, and preserved by the Lord Jesus for us and our benefit and comfort.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. [Romans 8:18-23]
This is beautiful sermon of hope, a sermon about bondage and liberty, about the present age and the future, about life and death and the very end of all: the resurrection. It's a sermon about groaning.
“For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but... even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” [8:22,23]
Groaning bodies, do we need illustrations of what this means? Remember waking up this morning? <Groan> Climbing out of bed? <Groan> I'm told that getting older means more creaks and pops, and more groans. Eventually standing up and sitting down and each step comes with a groan. When we open the medicine cabinet we find bottles and tubes and all sorts of stuff that is there to stop the groaning, but it doesn't stop.
I imagine Paul knew how to groan. He didn't reach old age before he was martyred, but his body took a beating in the name of Jesus. “From the Jews five times I received forty strips minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep...” [2 Corinthians 11:24-25] Now that might cause some groaning.
And Paul here is saying that his groaning and our groaning is not alone. When we groan under the weight of our own corruption and decay and death, we might think that we groan alone, like the lonely wolf howling at the moon from the top of a deserted rock, but no, says Paul, we groan in chorus with all creation. “We know that the whole creation groans.” [8:22]
When Adam and Eve ate the prohibited fruit and brought death upon themselves, they all brought death into all creation. All of creation, the entire universe was subject to futility, in bondage to death, enlisted in the cacophonous choir of groaning. Everything started to unwind, to rot, to decay, to die. Our bodies are not exempt. From then until now and even until Jesus returns this groaning will go on.
And all of this is because of sin. Every ache, every pain, every sickness, every weakness, every wrinkle, every forgotten thought, every tear, every groan, every one of them, is a reminder that we are sunk deep deep into sin; that this creation is saturated with unholiness and drenched with death. Our groaning means that we are dying. That the corruption and futility of sin is pulling us toward the grave.
But there is more to our groaning than that. This is what Paul is saying in the text. “We ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” All of this groaning is waiting, eager waiting and calling, looking, expecting, hoping. All of the groans and pain of sin last only for a moment, for this present time, and this time will not last forever, in fact, it will not last long. The Lord Jesus has a plan, for us, for creation, and it is the resurrection. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.” We say it almost every Sunday, and this is what we mean, that the Lord Jesus will return and stand on the earth all call all the dead bodies out of the grave and reunite them with their soul, and for all those who believe in Jesus this new resurrected body will be fit to stand before His face in glory.
We know this because of Jesus' own resurrection. He is the first-fruits of this new creation. His death on the cross was the death of death, the ruination of sin, and He has begun His deliverance in you by the forgiveness of all of your sins. This is your eternal life, and you have it now, by faith. In the resurrection you will have what is already yours, and you will have it by sight.
Your resurrected body will not groan, there will be no sickness or crying; it will be free from all of that, and creation will be free with it. That will be, as Paul says, “The earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” As just as we do not groan alone, we will not be delivered alone. “The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
This is Jesus' promise for you, for all who trust in His promises. It might seem as if your groaning is getting more and more each day, but it will not always be so. The forgiveness of your sins which you cling to now by faith will then be the deliverance even of your body. There is a new heaven and a new earth waiting for us, promised to us. There is the resurrection of these bodies waiting for us, promised to us. There is the face of Jesus and the angelic hosts waiting for us, promised to us. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
Indeed we ourselves are not worthy of the good things that the Lord Jesus has planned for us, and yet by His cross He has given to us every good thing. It is yours, and now we are simply waiting, waiting for our adoption. And our waiting is filled with groans, but by Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, our waiting is also filled with a sure hope, and faith, and joy and love.
May God grant to us His Holy Spirit, that we firmly trust in His promises, His promise of the forgiveness of all of our sins, His promise that His Son will soon return to the earth, and His promise that we will be delivered from corruption and death in the resurrection, and that trusting these promises, we find in them our life, salvation, our comfort and joy and the forgiveness of all our sins. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO