Sermon Tone Analysis

*Proof of Glory*

*Romans 8:18-30           November 25, 2001*

* *

*Scripture Reading:*

 

*Introduction:*

 

If Paul has convinced us in Romans 8:1-17 that God has rescued us from our self-condemnation as helpless sinners against the law's requirements by giving us new life in the Holy Spirit, then why do we still suffer the agony of sin?

We might be set free from sin's condemnation but we still suffer the curse of its existence.

What person among us has not groaned inwardly at what we see people do to themselves and others through ignorant and willful sin?

These things can be so transparent to us but so invisible to those whom it affects.

ILLUS: Radiologist at the Gideon's Banquet.

The trouble is that each of us is pretty much blind to ourselves even while we see the sins of others.

ILLUS: A drunk criticizing another drunk for drinking.

The point is that all of us still live with the awful results of sin regardless of the fact that we are no longer condemned for it if we are in Christ.

So to reiterate the last message in Rom. 8, Paul gives us the facts of our new life:

 

/How does God rescue us from our self-condemnation in being unable to follow his law in our own strength?/

*God saves us from self-condemnation by giving us a new law of life in the Spirit.*

(vv.

1-4)

                Our new law of life in the Spirit becomes effective only by faith in Christ.

Our new law of life in the Spirit sets us free from the old law of sin and  death.

Our new law of life in the Spirit validates the old law by meeting its requirements.

*God saves us from self-condemnation by giving us a new nature of life in the Spirit.*

(vv.

5-8)

                Our new nature of life in the Spirit gives us a new desire.

Our new nature of life in the Spirit gives us a new means of control.

Our new nature of life in the Spirit gives us a new ability to please God.

 

*God saves us from self-condemnation by giving us a new assurance of life in the Spirit.*

(vv.

9-11)

                Our new assurance of life in the Spirit gives us a new sense of belonging.

Our new assurance of life in the Spirit gives us a new sense of righteousness.

Our new assurance of life in the Spirit gives us a new expectation of life eternal.

*God saves us from self-condemnation by giving us a new relationship of life in the Spirit.*

(vv.

12-17)

                Our new relationship of life in the Spirit gives us a new obligation as sons of God.

Our new relationship of life in the Spirit gives us a new freedom from fear as sons of God.

Our new relationship of life in the Spirit gives us a new inheritance in Christ as sons of God.

 

*Timeless Truth:*

The best news yet is how the good news actually works in giving us a new life by giving us a new power.

It is a new power through a new proposal, a new persuasion, a new peace, a new presence in the Holy Spirit.

But sometimes we need more than just the facts, don't we?

We need proof.

So in our passage today in Romans 8:18-30, Paul gives us proof from four different arenas that we actually have new spiritual life.

Then in the balance of Romans 8, he gives us the application of that new spiritual life.

For all this marvelous truth in Romans 8 to be effective, it must be applied in how we live.

God does what he does for us in order to make a difference in us.

But I am getting ahead of myself just a little.

The verse that leads into our passage this morning (8:17) speaks of suffering – that we are heirs in Christ if indeed we share in his suffering that we might also share in his glory.

What kind of suffering is he talking about here?

As we said, there is a sense in which everyone suffers from the effects of sin.

Now those who are not in Christ do indeed suffer the effects of sin, but it is a suffering that is kind of a bland assumption that it is our present lot beyond which there is nothing else.

It is what we would call ignorant suffering – suffering without hope, a pathetic acceptance of the inevitable.

However, those who are in Christ also suffer the effects of sin, but it is a suffering that is in a sense heightened because of our relationship to Christ.

Although it is a suffering with hope, it causes a tension between the way things are and the way we know they should be, and even will be someday.

So if you are in Christ then you are suffering even now.

Let me explain.

Although our hope in Christ does indeed lift us up and we go on in courage because of it, it can also get us down because we begin to see as God sees and know as God knows, and we want it all the more.

Outside of pure persecution in Christ, and continuing to suffer the effects of a sinful world, this can also be a form of suffering for Christ that we endure in this present age.

It is a sort of spiritual or psychological suffering because we are not yet what we know we shall be.

The very presence of the Holy Spirit can cause this form of suffering I am speaking about because we are made aware that the destination of our journey still lies ahead.

It is like the proverbial question that the children ask in the back seat of the car, "Are we there yet?"

They are in agony because their little bodies and minds are limited in their endurance (of time and space and each other) and we have to remind them, "Just a little longer, children."

So the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives not only saves us from the self-condemnation of God's law by giving us a new law, nature, assurance, and relationship of life in the Spirit, but creates a certain tension as well because we don't have it all yet.

We know that we are God's children but we aren't grown up yet.

And so we suffer the agony of limited capability because we are still in process.

We have all these promises, but promises are by definition yet to be fulfilled.

Like a child who measures his growth against the wall and is assured because of his progress, he returns all the more to re-measure because he wants to be what he is becoming.

So even though we are saved from self-condemnation, we are not yet saved from our yearning toward what we shall be.

We know the past is behind us but we have not yet obtained the future.

And so this is the subject of this morning's message in Romans 8:18-30 as Paul helps us to deal with the rest of our spiritual life in Christ.

He tells us how we can know that Christ's glory will be revealed in us.

He moves us beyond the facts to tangible proof.

*Big Question:*

 

/What assurance do we have that our future glory in Christ will far surpass our present suffering in Christ?/

 

*I.

Cycle One*

 

*          A.

Narrative *(vv.

18-21)

 

16  Therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

17  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

18  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIVUS)

 

3  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4  perseverance, character; and character, hope.

5  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

(Romans 5:3-5 NIVUS)

 

1 ¶ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

And that is what we are!

The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

2  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.

But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

(1 John 3:1-2 NIVUS)

 

17 ¶ To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

18  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

19  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

(Genesis 3:17-19 NIVUS)

 

 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.

That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

(2 Peter 3:12 NIVUS)

 

17 ¶ "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.

The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.