WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.240 Take your Bibles today and open them up to Revelation chapter 21. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:18.559 And when you find Revelation 21, if you would mark that and then turn over in your Bible to Romans chapter 8, and we're going to spend the bulk of our time today together in the eighth chapter of the book of Romans. 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:22.960 We're in a series called Drive, and today is the last sermon in it. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:26.000 I've been honored to share that with Pastor Tom. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:33.439 But the reason for the drive series is because all of us from time to time get off track in our walk with God. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:39.840 And just like the wheel of your car, if you take your hands off the steering wheel, your car will not continue in the lane. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:45.119 It will veer off one way or the other, and your life with God is the same way. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.960 And sometimes we wake up a week or a month or a year later and we feel just completely disconnected from God. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:54.880 What do you do then? 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:58.719 What do you do when you feel like you're just going through the motions here? 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.799 Well, the wrong answer is just to work harder. 00:01:03.119 --> 00:01:05.280 Because that's not what God responds to. 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.319 God responds to faith, not to work. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:08.799 Okay? 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:12.159 Now work is important, but God responds to faith. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:17.200 And so all around us, He has placed vehicles that are already headed toward heaven. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:25.439 And if we know where those vehicles are, then we can get into one of those vehicles and our connection with God returns. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:32.159 And so that's been the goal of this series is to help us find that reconnection with God if you feel disconnected. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:34.719 And so today we're going to be talking about heaven. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:41.359 I don't know what you think about heaven, but today we will challenge whatever you think about heaven with God's word. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:46.799 And I believe that our concept of heaven is going to be expanded tremendously. 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.280 That's what the Word of God comes to do for us. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:54.159 I remember right after I got saved, I got saved just before I was a freshman in college. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:05.200 And right after I got saved, I had started my freshman year of college and all the host of temptations that come there, temptations that you haven't seen before you get to college. 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:12.800 And someone one day, some well-intentioned person who loved me, handed me a book called What is Hell Like? 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:21.520 And so I remember being so excited to find out, you know, this place that I don't want to go, I'm going to now find out all about it. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:30.639 And so I go back to my dorm room and I open up the book, and chapter one is this How long will hell last? 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:34.560 And I began reading how long hell would last. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.199 And the author gave a series of analogies. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:38.879 The only one I remember is this. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.840 Imagine an ant walking around the equator of the earth. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:47.360 And he walks all the way around and keeps walking. 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:54.960 And he keeps walking so often around the earth until there's a small crevice that builds. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:57.599 And the crevice becomes an inch deep. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:07.360 And the more he walks, a foot deep, and then ten feet deep, and then a mile deep, until finally the ant walks so much that the earth just falls into two. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:11.599 He says, This is how long the first day of hell will last. 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:18.560 And I thought to myself, you know, finishing this book likely would be just like the first day of hell for me. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:22.800 I'm not planning on reading any more about this. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:29.280 The goal is to avoid there, right? 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:37.199 Do you realize, though, that the word of God gives us a whole lot stronger motivation? 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:41.039 And that motivation is heaven. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:48.879 Colossians 3, verse 2 says, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:53.280 For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:00.719 And when Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.479 Now the Bible says a lot about heaven. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:20.959 And the dominant position the Bible takes about heaven is not to threaten about heaven is not to threaten us with missing it, but the sheer excitement that the Word of God wants to impart to us about going there. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:34.959 And so today, if you feel disconnected in your walk with God, God has given as a vehicle our anticipation of what is to come as one of the primary things that will reconnect us to Him. 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.360 You know, heaven is a real place. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:45.120 It's not a state of being, it's not some esoteric concept. 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:47.439 It's a real place. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:53.920 Someone once mentioned to me, you know, it seems a little morbid to think about it. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:56.560 I would say this to you. 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:03.519 For every person who thinks too much about heaven, there's a million who don't think enough about it. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:07.519 Paul said this in Philippians 1. 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:15.279 He says, For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:20.639 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:22.720 Yet what shall I choose? 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:24.399 I do not know. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:26.560 I'm torn between the two. 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:32.079 I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:36.959 But it's more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.839 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:49.600 And I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.800 Now God wants us to think accurately about heaven. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.519 But I believe there's two ways we miss it. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.319 One is by escapism, and the other is by saturation. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.360 There are two ditches on the side of this road. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:07.680 Escapism says, my life is so bad, I just want out. 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:13.120 And the truth is, almost anything other than what you have now will do. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:16.480 A trip to Disneyland will solve that for you this weekend. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:20.079 The other is saturation. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:27.279 And I've had people tell me before, you know, I love the earth so much, I just don't want anything to change. 00:06:28.240 --> 00:06:31.439 You know, both of these represent suffering. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:34.560 One with a frown, the other with a smile. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:40.079 Because both are off of God's intended purpose. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:43.439 Now, I don't know what you think heaven's going to be like. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.480 Most of our notions about heaven, frankly, do not come from Scripture. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.399 That we'll be disembodied spirits, that will be floating by on clouds. 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:56.720 It's not at all what the Bible says. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:04.800 And today I want us to look together at one of the primary places in Scripture that talks about what will unfold for you and me. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:09.040 Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse 18. 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:19.519 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:28.560 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:49.040 For the creation was subjected to frustration not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:59.279 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:12.000 And not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.680 For in this hope we were saved. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:19.519 But hope that is seen is no hope at all. 00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:22.319 Who hopes for what he already has? 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:28.399 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:32.159 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:35.919 We do not know what we ought to pray for. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:43.039 But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:52.559 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:01.519 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:09.360 I want to make sure you understand that when verse 18 talks about the suffering that we go through, he's not talking about persecution. 00:09:09.679 --> 00:09:12.879 He's not talking about suffering for Jesus. 00:09:13.360 --> 00:09:16.879 He's talking about suffering with Jesus. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:31.600 And what that means is that there is a heavenly skill about knowing how to invite Jesus in to whatever situation you face that you know is not exactly what God has for you. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:34.720 Some difficulty or some point of suffering. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:40.000 And the primary thing in this text is to set your heart on heaven. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:43.279 And so I want to give you six things right out of Romans 8. 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.960 We're going to go verse by verse through this chapter today. 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:57.519 Romans 8, the first thing I want to tell you that heaven promises to us is this from verse 18 is that glory will be revealed in you. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:00.399 Here's what verse 18 says. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.480 Now there's the contrast we're after. 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:16.240 Compare your present sufferings, whatever those are, whatever it is you're going through right now. 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.320 Compare that with what lies ahead of you. 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.799 And Paul says, you can't even put those two things in the same sentence together. 00:10:25.840 --> 00:10:28.480 Those two things cannot even be compared. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:32.000 Let me tell you the difference between grief and despair. 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:36.240 Grief is when we lose something and it hurts. 00:10:36.720 --> 00:10:40.399 But we still have other things around us to give us comfort. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:44.720 Despair is when we lose the ultimate thing. 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.320 The one thing on earth that makes life work. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:52.000 You lose that, you have reason to despair. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:11:00.480 Let me tell you, for all those who have named Jesus as Lord, you never have reason to despair because God is the only ultimate. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:04.240 He is the only ultimate, and you will never lose him. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:11.120 And so when we suffer loss, know this is that there's something on the inside of you that's waiting to be revealed. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.120 You know when God made you? 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.399 He created you in his own image. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.840 And when he made you in his image, that means that you're this, you become like a magnet for holy things. 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.320 And so on the inside of you right now is the Holy Spirit. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.559 The Word of God is inside of you. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:34.159 Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:40.240 Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3.11 that God has set eternity in your heart. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:52.480 And so here's what that means is that in this container, this temporary container, that God has placed a recipe of something from another place. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:11:59.840 A recipe of something that won't wear out, and something that'll never go away. 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:05.679 And the apostle Paul would say that's the glory that right now is on the inside of you. 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:07.360 It's glory. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:12.799 And God is excited that someday He's going to expose that for everybody. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:15.919 Glory is waiting to be revealed inside of you. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.120 This word for glory comes from the Greek word meaning to think. 00:12:19.279 --> 00:12:24.320 Here's what glory is: glory is the honor resulting from a good opinion. 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:30.159 Glory is the honor resulting from a good opinion. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.960 You know, right now God has a good opinion of you? 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.279 And his really is the only opinion that matters. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:45.519 Glory is the image of God grown up into fullness, and someday God will show you off. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:47.360 That's what verse 18 means. 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.320 Here's the second thing. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:54.720 Comes from verse 19 is that creation is waiting for you to be revealed. 00:12:55.679 --> 00:13:02.879 Verse 19 says the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:04.799 Now don't confuse this with verse 18. 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:08.000 Verse 18 says that glory will be revealed in you. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:12.399 Verse 19 says that creation waits for you to be revealed. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.159 There's a difference there. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:19.600 Right now, you realize there is some evidence that you and I are children of God. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:24.080 There is also some evidence to the contrary. 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:25.840 You realize that. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:41.679 And a lot of times when we suffer, the enemy of our soul comes in behind us and he says, you know, God's real children, they don't suffer like this. 00:13:43.120 --> 00:13:48.399 This thing you're going through, real children of God don't go through stuff like this. 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.679 You're a fake and you're a fraud. 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:57.039 And it takes real faith to fight that off. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:06.240 But someday God will prop you up. 00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:08.399 In front of. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.080 In front of all the redeemed of the ages. 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:18.480 He will prop you up. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.399 And he will say, This is my daughter. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.600 Wow, let me tell you what she went through on the earth. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:34.559 And the faith that she exercised in the face of tremendous difficulty. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.000 Wow, this is my daughter. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.039 Creation waits for you to be revealed. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.799 And God will someday show you off. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:56.240 Here's the third thing that comes from verse 20 is that there is reason to hope today. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.080 Verse 20 says this, for the creation was subjected to frustration. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:11.039 Not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it in hope. 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.320 Now this word, creation was subjected to frustration. 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:18.080 This word for frustration, some of your Bibles say futility. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.039 It comes from the Greek word meaning empty. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:26.879 Here's what it means is that creation was subjected to emptiness. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.159 By whom? 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:30.399 By God. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:41.840 Here's what this means is that there is nothing that's ever been created that has the ability to deeply satisfy you on the inside. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:43.200 Nothing. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:51.519 The only thing that can satisfy you in your heart of hearts is the Lord your God. 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:59.120 And God created everything else on the earth that's empty in terms of its ability to satisfy you. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:15.519 And so people go around their entire lives thinking, you know, if I just had that job, or if I just had that amount of money, or if I had that new house, or if I had that new car, or if I had that much power, then I'd be happy. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:27.279 And you realize the people that get those very things in short order say this, you know, it just didn't offer all that I thought it would. 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:30.960 Can I just tell you why today? 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:34.879 Because God created it that way. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.360 God made it to fail. 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:45.120 Everything that's ever been created was created to fail without God. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:50.399 It is empty in terms of its ability to satisfy you. 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.399 But here's what Romans 8 tells us. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:17:00.159 The reason God made it that way is to produce hope on the inside of us. 00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:13.039 That I've looked everywhere I can look to find something that has some depth and some richness and some quality and some weight to it, and I can't find anything. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.880 And God said, I made it that way. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:20.720 And the reason I made it that way is because I want you to hope for something better. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:22.960 That's what hope means. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:25.599 Hope means to anticipate with pleasure. 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:28.319 And hope is based on knowledge. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:32.240 This is not like, gee, I hope I get a thousand bucks for Christmas. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.440 Hope is based on knowledge of something that you've not seen yet. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:47.119 About a year ago, my wife Lexa was out one morning and she was out running some errands, and she had our youngest daughter, Brielle. 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:48.799 In fact, Brielle's sitting right here. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:50.720 I don't know if we can get a camera on Brielle. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.559 Brielle, can you give us a wave? 00:17:52.799 --> 00:17:54.480 Can you wave it, Daddy? 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:56.480 I don't know, can y'all see her? 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.680 There she is. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.640 They were out running some errands, and Brielle was three at the time. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.880 And so they stopped by Starbucks. 00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:07.119 And and uh so they walk in. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:14.960 Lexa orders her typical$20 high maintenance drink while the line forms out the door, waiting, but that's another story. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:20.240 So she gets she gets Lex she gets uh Brielle this little hot chocolate drink. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:25.839 And so they're waiting, and Brielle is dressed in pink just like she is today, different dress, but she's dressed all in pink. 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:27.119 It's an outfit. 00:18:27.359 --> 00:18:30.240 Shoes, dress, matches everything works. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:44.079 And so their drinks come up, and and Lexa hands Brielle this little chocolate drink, and she she takes the first drink, and the whole thing spills all the way down this dress, onto her shoes. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:46.000 And it's an E.F. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.240 Hutton moment if ever there was one. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:19:03.680 And the whole restaurant, the whole Starbucks, turned and was looking at this picture of this doll dressed in pink, now covered in chocolate, and Brielle realized that she had a captivated audience. 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.400 And she says, that's okay. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.400 I'm still beautiful. 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.119 Isn't that good? 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.279 Let me tell you something. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:21.039 That's hope. 00:19:23.440 --> 00:19:29.599 There's no doubt in her mind that her beauty comes from another place. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:33.200 And it's based on knowledge. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.119 Not, I wonder if this is true or not. 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.000 Can I just tell you right now that your glory and your beauty comes from another place? 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:57.759 And right now, presently, you are invited into the knowledge that God sees you as glorious and beautiful today, regardless of what's been spilled on you. 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.799 Your beauty comes from another place. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:02.960 Here's the fourth thing. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:08.000 It comes from verse 21 is that there will be freedom from misery. 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:10.640 That's what heaven promises to us. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:16.319 Verse 21 says this, and I want to grab the last two words from verse 20. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:27.599 In hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 00:20:27.759 --> 00:20:32.400 Now we are well acquainted with the result of Adam's sin. 00:20:32.960 --> 00:20:38.799 And we're well acquainted with the effects of the fall of man in Genesis 3 on humanity. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:48.960 But do you realize that the fall of man in Genesis 3 affected not just people, it affected everything created. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.039 It affects the earth. 00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:16.799 That's how devastating sin is.0 and above on the Richter scale. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:18.720 And here's what they found. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:26.160 That from the time of Jesus to the end of the year 18, of the end of the 1800s, there were 11 such earthquakes. 00:21:26.799 --> 00:21:31.119 In the next hundred years, in the 1900s, there were 10 more. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.599 In 2008, there were 12. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:39.519 And in 2009, there were 16. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:46.319 You need to understand right now that the earth is groaning. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:51.680 And Jesus and Paul both said, just like birth pains. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:53.839 That's what birth pains do. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:59.759 They get a little bit closer together and a little bit more intense until finally there's a new birth. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:12.559 But creation itself will someday be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 00:22:12.880 --> 00:22:21.359 You realize this is why there is decay and bondage even in the planet, is because of sin. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:28.000 I don't think we understand yet how devastating sin is. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:33.440 These things were released into the planet when Adam and Eve sinned. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:39.200 And one day creation will be freed from its misery and presented to you. 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:45.119 Here's the fifth thing, and it comes from verse 22, is that present sufferings really are birth pains. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:55.599 Verse 22 says, We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.079 Now there are three groanings in this text. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:02.480 The first one is in verse 22, and it says, all of creation groans. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:05.039 All of creation. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:07.920 I don't know what all that would include. 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:10.960 Certainly the earth and the sea and the weather. 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.680 Verse 23, he talks about people. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:17.440 People groan. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:21.119 Specifically, saved people. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:28.319 Here's what he says: We who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we groan as we wait for the redemption of our bodies. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:30.160 The rest is already redeemed. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:31.759 Your spirit is already redeemed. 00:23:31.839 --> 00:23:37.839 In fact, Ephesians 2.8 says, right now you are seated in heavenly places with the Lord Jesus. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:39.759 That's your spirit. 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:45.359 Your soul is being redeemed, and your body at some point will be redeemed. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.759 Verse 26 says, the Holy Spirit groans. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:49.359 It's one of the ways that we pray. 00:23:49.680 --> 00:23:51.920 Because we don't know what to pray for. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.279 And so Paul looks at all of this. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:05.279 Everything in creation that causes people to groan, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, cancer, divorce, Alzheimer, and he says, you know what? 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.440 That's like a mom in labor to me. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:08.640 That's what I'm seeing. 00:24:08.720 --> 00:24:10.400 I'm seeing a mom in labor. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:16.079 I heard about a guy a couple of years ago whose doctor came in, gave him a devastating future. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:18.559 In fact, pronounced him to be terminal. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:27.039 The doctor left the room, left the family alone there together, and his family turned to him and said, So how are you doing? 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:27.599 Are you afraid? 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:30.480 And he said, he smiled and he said, Afraid. 00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:34.319 He said, I cannot be threatened with heaven. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:38.960 I love that response. 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:41.759 Because either way, my friend, you win. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.160 We believe in healing because we've seen it. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:55.119 But sometimes we cheapen heaven by the ways we grieve over what happens on the earth. 00:24:55.440 --> 00:25:00.160 And friends, you can't even hold the two in the same sentence together, Paul says. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:10.000 You know, if you're at the hospital and you hear someone cry out in pain, it makes a big difference whether you're in the oncology hall or the maternity hall. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.759 Because one means there's death, and the other means there's life. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:22.160 And once you've given your life to Jesus, you're in the maternity hall forever. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.160 And everything you go through is birth pains. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.960 Because God is going somewhere good with all this. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:36.240 It's painful, you can be sure, but it's leading to life and it's not leading to death. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:42.640 Here's the sixth thing, and it comes from verse 23, is that suffering will be swallowed up in victory. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:44.640 Here's what verse 23 says. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:57.359 Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 00:25:57.519 --> 00:25:58.480 We need to understand this. 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:00.880 God cares about your body. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.240 And God cares what happens to your body. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:12.799 And that's why He is making provision to redeem your body. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:18.960 Now, sometimes this is, we don't have a good understanding of what this means. 00:26:19.119 --> 00:26:20.960 But I want to be real clear with you. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:26.240 After Jesus was resurrected, he walked around on the earth for a little while. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:34.880 And his closest friends could not tell any difference between the resurrected Jesus and what he was like before. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:43.920 He got hungry and he ate and he laughed and he talked and he could walk through a wall. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:49.599 And that's what a glorified body is like. 00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:54.480 And someday your body will be glorified. 00:26:55.119 --> 00:27:00.799 And it won't get sick anymore, and it won't get weak anymore. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:08.319 But it's going to be similar to the body that you have right now, except better. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:11.920 Now we're all familiar with the sufferings of Job. 00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:14.160 I want you to listen carefully to what Job said. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.480 Job 19, verse 25. 00:27:16.880 --> 00:27:19.839 He says, I know that my Redeemer lives. 00:27:20.319 --> 00:27:27.359 And that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:30.720 Now watch verse 26 carefully. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:40.640 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. 00:27:42.319 --> 00:27:45.119 I myself will see him with my own eyes. 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:46.240 I am not another. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:49.039 In other words, this won't be hearsay for me. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:55.759 I'm not going to have to rely on the words of somebody else who said, I just saw the Lord, because I will see him myself. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:56.960 This is what Job's saying. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:01.519 And then he says, This how my heart yearns within me. 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:20.880 And friends, if you will give some time to thinking about what lies in your future, the things that God has excited to unfold in your life, there will be a reconnection and your heart will begin to yearn within you. 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:29.200 I want you to realize that most of the earth missed Jesus the first time he came. 00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:34.319 But no one will miss him when he returns. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:40.319 And when he will returns, he will come back with a glorified body. 00:28:41.519 --> 00:28:44.720 And he will bring your home in heaven. 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:55.839 And he will enact justice for all the times that people have acted unjustly towards you and gotten away with it. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:57.759 There will be justice for you. 00:29:00.079 --> 00:29:04.640 Revelation 21 talks about that day. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:09.599 Here's what John saw that day. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:13.599 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, verse 1. 00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:19.440 For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:25.039 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:29.119 Prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:36.799 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:41.759 They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:45.119 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:49.200 There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:53.039 For the old order of things has passed away. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:58.079 He who was seated on the throne said, I'm making everything new. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:04.079 And then he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.200 And he said to me, It is done. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:11.279 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. 00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:17.119 To him who is thirsty, I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:24.799 And he who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be as God, and he will be my son. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:29.039 I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:38.400 I want to address specifically, so we end our time this morning, two groups of people. 00:30:39.839 --> 00:30:47.279 Because doubtless, in a crowd this size, there are those today, and you'd say, if you were honest, you'd say this. 00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:51.599 You know, Pastor, if I died today, I'm not real sure where I'd go. 00:30:52.640 --> 00:31:00.640 And you need to understand that God doesn't come today to threaten you with the thought of missing heaven. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:13.279 God comes today to offer to you the greatest life that you could ever imagine, and in fact, the very created purpose for which you were put on the earth. 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:15.599 It's offered to you today. 00:31:16.240 --> 00:31:20.160 And so I'm not talking today about pain avoidance. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:28.240 I'm talking about what you were made for, the things that God most desires from your life. 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:38.799 And so today, if you would say, you know, I'm not sure about that, then I want to invite you right now, you just open your heart and you pray a prayer similar to this one. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:44.559 God, I confess today that I'm a sinner and I have no way to you except through Jesus Christ. 00:31:45.759 --> 00:31:49.359 I confess that I've tried everything I know to be happy. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:51.839 Nothing's worked. 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.720 So, God, I come to you today and I give you my life. 00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:59.599 And I thank you for receiving me in Jesus' name. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:01.839 I want you to leave your heads bowed and your eyes closed. 00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:03.440 I want to address another group of people. 00:32:03.519 --> 00:32:08.480 And that group of people are those of you today who are brokenhearted. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:12.720 You're brokenhearted because you feel disconnected from God. 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:23.359 And the reason you're brokenhearted is because you have set your sight on things on the earth, and you have found them to be completely empty. 00:32:24.799 --> 00:32:30.960 And you have tried your hardest to draw life from those things, and there's no life inside of them. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:33.680 And you found that today to be true. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:35.839 Now you know why. 00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:43.359 And so today the Lord extends a hand of mercy to you, and he says to you, today, if you'll come home, I'll take you right now. 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:46.319 My grace is sufficient for you. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:50.079 So today, if you need prayer, in just a moment I'm going to pray. 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:53.200 When I pray, after I pray, we're going to stand up. 00:32:53.359 --> 00:32:57.599 And there will be people that we know and love that come down to the altar to pray for you. 00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:59.759 And you won't be interrupting me if you come. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:04.000 As soon as we finish praying, you just step out in the aisle and you come. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:12.079 If we can resource you or be a source of ministry to pray for you today, it'd be our honor to do so. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:22.160 God, thank you today for the ways that you are so patient with us while we search for life everywhere we can find it. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:26.720 And then you always receive us back as children coming back home. 00:33:26.880 --> 00:33:29.519 God, it's our joy today to come back home. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:33.119 Thank you for your love toward us in Jesus' name. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:34.000 Amen.