Why Our Bodies Hurt And Our Hearts Hope For A New World

Pain has a way of telling the truth. Our bodies ache, headlines rattle us, and the future feels foggy—yet Romans 8 insists all this groaning is labor, not collapse. We walk through the hope that doesn’t pretend, the patience that doesn’t quit, and the promise that doesn’t fail. Creation groans, we groan, and even the Spirit groans on our behalf, shaping prayers we can’t find and aligning our hearts with the will of God.

Perseverance is not grit alone but grace applied: deny the flesh, pick up the cross, and keep moving toward the One who already secured the verdict. We unpack the golden chain—foreknown, called, justified, glorified—and why “all things work together for good” is a rugged assurance for hard days. No condemnation isn’t theory when Christ intercedes and the Father’s love holds. Tribulation, distress, and even the sword can wound but cannot sever. More than conquerors means held, transformed, and sent back into a broken world with a stubborn joy.

Then we turn to Romans 9 and Paul’s heartbreak for Israel to face a hard truth with soft hearts: heritage cannot save, and grace does what merit never could. The promise traced through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob points to a God who chooses the unlikely and finishes what He starts. If you’re hungry for a hope that outlasts pain and a love that will not let go, you’re in the right place. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find these messages of steady hope.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

We also struggle with it because it's it's it's wearing out. We have aches and pains and things going wrong that aren't supposed to be going wrong. And we just long for what the Lord has for us. We we realize there's something better that the Lord has made us for. We realize that I don't see it, I don't feel it, but I but I hope in it. It's coming. This new body, this new relationship, this new world.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Sin not only destroyed our relationship with God, but it brought brokenness and death to our bodies. Once you get to a certain age, this brokenness becomes more apparent, and you start to long for the new body that Scripture promises is coming for those who are in Christ. As Pastor Carl will point out in today's message, all of creation groans for this restoration. We can see the signs of it all around. It knows that things are not as they're supposed to be, and God will fulfill his promise of renewal. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Not only are you hoping for your own salvation, but do you realize that that involves the salvation of all of creation? Wow. Lots to think, lots of things to consider. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. This picture of a woman with child, and and the closer that the birth comes, the birth pangs and these tribulations come in a deeper way. And so all of creation is experiencing these groans and these moanings and these pains and and these um these birth pangs that are coming. Which kind of reminds me of, do you remember this picture? This is from 2001, a space odyssey. And somehow this this baby at the end of the movie comes and floats around the world, and it's like, whoa, that's really deep. And you almost had to be on drugs to understand anything that they were talking about to really relate to what they were doing. But it's this idea that it's the next step of evolution. Mankind is going to come and become this new creation, which is not what Paul is talking about. This is what the flesh would come up with. This is what the world comes up with. But that's not what Paul is proclaiming the truth to be. All of creation is getting ready for a birth of something new, something glorious, that's from heaven, that's not based on anything we have done, but what the Lord has done in his grace in and through us and how it affects everything. So creation has these birth pangs and these moans and groans. And verse 23, not only that, but we also have the first fruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption and the redemption of the body. Granted, you've been saved. You have the Holy Spirit within you. You are new creation. And yet we still struggle with the flesh. We struggle with it as far as you know resisting sin, but we also struggle with it because it's wearing out. We have aches and pains and things going wrong that aren't supposed to be going wrong. And we just long for what the Lord has for us. We realize there's something better that the Lord has made us for. We realize that I don't see it, I don't feel it, but I hope in it. It's coming. This new body, this new relationship, this new world that's not the new world order that the enemy is coming along to set up. This is a new world that the Lord is setting up, where righteousness reigns, where truth reigns. Verse 24, for we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope, for why does one still hope for what he sees? We have this hope. The Lord's return is our glorious hope, as he changes us and makes us new and gives us a new future where there is no more sin and no more death. Do we see that yet? No, but we get glimpses. He's doing it in our hearts, in our minds. He's changing us, but but my back still hurts. People still look at me funny. The world is still going crazy, and Christians are becoming more and more of an enemy against the world, and they're going to come against us more and more. But I have this hope. This hope. Not just I believe hard enough for it, but I know it within myself that it's real, that's going to happen, it's promised, but I don't realize it yet. I don't feel it yet. I'm not experiencing the fullness of the hope yet. So it's not hope. I remember when Lorreen and I were married, I mean, before we were married, dating, engaged, I hoped we could get married. I hoped that we could spend life together. And then the day we got married, the hope was fulfilled, and it's no longer a hope, but it's it's it's an experience. It's it's reality. We have this hope within us that there's something more. This world, more and more, is just becoming less and less attractive to me, and hopefully to you too. We have a job here to do. Why is it that the Lord didn't just take us home when we came to faith in Jesus Christ to give us the full salvation immediately, to give us the new bodies without sin and death immediately? Because He has a job for us to do. That this hope that's in within us, we can share with others and say, yeah, this world is messed up. It's not the way that God intended it to me to be. There is something better, and it's real. It's not just wishful thinking. But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Hang in there, cling to the Lord, remember the gospel, apply it to your life, deny your flesh, pick up your cross, follow after Jesus, because this is what we've been called to, and this is the only answer that gives us true peace in the midst of the storm that is brewing, that is getting stronger and coming our way. We must persevere, keep looking to the Lord, keep looking to the gospel. Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we should pray as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. All of creation is groaning. We're groaning, and the Spirit within us is groaning as well. The Lord knows we're not there yet. The Lord knows that we not only have challenges with our own faith, with our own walk with the Lord, that we have challenges with the flesh coming back, but we have challenges of the world coming against us. The Spirit knows that the Lord is coming back to come and set things right. But the Spirit knows that we need strength in the moment. We need to persevere. And so the Spirit Himself is praying for us even when we don't know what to pray for ourselves. I pray a lot. Mostly it's help, Lord. But the Spirit becomes even more specific in his prayers. Carl needs help in this way and in this way and in this way. Strengthen him. Now he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because he makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. The Spirit knows our hearts. The Lord knows me better than I know myself. And how good to know that the Lord, who knows my heart better than I know myself, is for me. He's praying for me. And not just feel goodism, not just, oh, take that away from him. But he's praying the will of God over me. And what's the will of God? That I'd be conformed to the image of Christ. That I'd be given life, that I would have abundant life now and forever. Isn't that good to know that the Spirit is praying for us? And now we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus? You've been called. You've been accepted. He has a purpose for you. And all these things that come against us, including ourselves, God is working them all out together for our good and for his glory. Isn't that good? 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. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we become a brother of Jesus and a son of God. Or daughter, sister, yeah. Moreover, whom he predestined, he also called, and whom he called, he also justified, and who he justified, he also glorified. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, it's not just us making a decision. It's us responding to a work the Lord has already begun in us to reveal to us our sin and to reveal to us the idea that the answer to the sin problem is in Jesus Christ on the cross, that the gospel makes perfect sense, and we respond to it. We turn from our wicked ways and we turn to Him. It's something we do, but it's something that the Lord is doing. It's just the work of God in our lives. He's the one that justifies us, not our excuses. We couldn't even begin to justify ourselves. Again, because the law was given to show us our need for a Savior. It came to show us our inept ability to fulfill it. It shows us our wretchedness. And yet it shows us the love of God for us. That He didn't just destroy us, which He would have every right to do, but the Lord became one of us. In another place, Paul talks about we were predestined for hell. But now that we've come to faith in Jesus Christ, we're destined for heaven. Have you come to faith in Jesus Christ? What's your destination? And when you come to faith in Christ, you realize it's the work of God in our lives that we respond to that brings us to that place. And not only coming to faith in Jesus Christ, but living our lives out every day. As you've begun in Him, continue in Him. Don't be like the Romans, which are just used as an example for the rest of us because we're all like this. We all fall back into the ways of the flesh. Let's determine to walk in the ways of the Lord, to trust in Him, to meditate upon Him, to let the Word change us, to renew our minds so that we would have the mind of Christ, that we would deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow after Him. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Do you get it? God is not a killjoy just looking to squash people that break His laws. God loves you. And He loves you how much? He spread His arms out on that cross. He took the sin of the world upon Himself. His precious blood was even so much more valuable than the cost of our sin. So none of us can say, Oh, I'm too bad, I'm too evil, He can't forgive me. Oh yes, He can. He's paid for it, and then some. He's for you. He wants to free you. He wants to do life with you. He wants to show you great and mighty things. If we meditate on these things, if we go back to the gospel and we realize what God is doing for us, shouldn't that change the way we respond to our flesh? Lord help us to seek you more. He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? You've been chosen, you've been made his. So who can bring any charge against you when Jesus has already paid for it? Are you are you getting it? This is big picture stuff. And I get a I get a glimpse of it, I get a grasp of it, but then it fleeds away. Can you can you relate to that? Lord, I want to understand your grace and your mercy more. Your love for me, you're for me, not against me. I think I messed up and now you hate me, but that's not true. I messed up and you love me. I messed up and you paid for that. I messed up and and and you've covered it and you've made a way for me to be victorious over it. It's God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? Well, the enemy wants to condemn you, and he keeps bringing accusations, but the Lord is also our lawyer, and he defends us against the enemy. Who is he who condemns? This goes back to the gospel. It is Christ who died, and furthermore, is also risen. The condemnation that should have been upon us was upon Christ on the cross. He was condemned for us. And because he paid the sin, there is no condemnation on us anymore if we believe, if we trust, if we've given our life to him. Christ is even at the right hand of God and also makes intercession for us. So not only is the Spirit praying for us, but Jesus Himself is praying on your behalf. And especially when the enemy comes along and says, Look at what he did today. Jesus said, I died for that. Father, you know I died for that. And the Father nods. It's right, it's holy, it's forgiven. Who shall separate us from the love of God? Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, if we fall into the flesh, we can be affected by those things. But if we're walking in the Spirit and recognizing the love that the Lord has for us, anything that comes our way will not match the love of God for us. How vital it is, especially in this day and age, that we be in the Word and let it change us, and not what the messages of the world are telling us. Because what the messages of the world are telling us, our flesh grabs a hold of and says, Yeah, it's not fair, it's not right. I need the Lord to help me through. As it is written, For your sake we are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for this slaughter. This is another one of those lines that it's hard to share. Look, as followers of Jesus Christ, things are gonna come against us. Do you realize that? Do you recognize that? But it's not what the world does to us that matters. Verse 37. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. This is one of those that God's logic is so upside down from the world. The world can knock us down, the Lord can destroy our lives. The Lord can take the world can take our lives. Did I say that? The world can do all these negative things to us. But we can stand strong. And we've seen it in the last 2,000 years. Brothers and sisters across the world that have gone through unimaginable persecution have stand, have stood strong for the Lord and said, I will not deny my Lord. I will stand firm on the truth. I don't care what you do to me. By the way, do you know Jesus? I keep going back to this picture of Paul in prison being tied to the guard, and he goes, You know why I'm here? Because you broke the law. No, because God sent me here to preach the good news to you. May we have that attitude. May the Lord give us that grace. For I am persuaded that neither death or life, nor angels, nor principalities or powers, or things present or things to come, nor height, nor death, 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 so much in that verse, isn't there? Those verses. Grab a hold of it. Nothing can separate you from the love of the Lord, because it's the love of the Lord that secured it for you. Question is, are we walking in it? Do we believe it? And are we continually walking in it and being changed by it, so that when the things come, it won't destroy us. The Lord said, Fear not the one that can destroy your body, but fear him who can destroy your soul. The one that can judge your soul, who already took your judgment upon himself. The Lord is our judge, but he's also our savior. And if he's our savior and he's already judged us in his own body, do you recognize how free you are? You are free. And it's not just bad people in this world, it's it's demonic forces, it's principalities and powers that are exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. They want, they know they got a death sentence, they're gonna be in hell forever, and they want to take as many of us with them as possible. That's why we stand firm and say, no, this is the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the only thing that can save you. And I don't care what you do to me, I'm gonna continue to declare the truth. Which takes us into chapter 9. I'm only gonna go through a few verses here to get us started. After all this, after understanding, you know, that our salvation is in Christ alone, not in following the law, not in being a Jew. Paul's heart turns to the Jews because he is a Jew. And there are many Jews that have not come to faith in Jesus Christ, and it breaks his heart. Verse 1 of chapter 9. I tell you the truth, in Christ I am not lying. My conscience also bearing witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my countrymen, according to the flesh. I wish that God would just curse me so that he could save the rest of the Jews. It's my heart. Do you have that heart? Are you willing to lay down your life so others would be saved? The Lord laid down his life for us so that we could have life. Paul wants to lay down his life so that we could have saved us. So his brothers according to the flesh could be saved. Verse 4 Who are Israelites? To whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, of whom are the fathers, and from whom, according to the flesh, Jesus Christ came, who is over all, the eternal blessed God. Amen. He just broke into worship again right there when he realizes this is God's sovereign plan that Jesus came through the line of the Jews, and the law, the Jews were God's chosen nation for a purpose, and yet they missed the gospel. Christ even came through their line, and most of them have missed it. And Paul's heart breaks. But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect, for they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham. But in Isaac your seed shall be called. Even in the fleshly line, Abraham had other sons. His first son was named Ishmael, who came through the bondwoman. The chosen son came through Sarah. You have the woman of faith, and you have a woman of works. You have the woman of the Lord, and you have the woman of the world. There are many descendants of Abraham of the flesh who are not of the called, and yet they can come to faith in Jesus Christ. They can be saved because of the grace of God. But Isaac was chosen to be the one through whom the promise would come, right? That is, those who are children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Even though the promise came through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which we'll look at a little bit here, the real sons of Abraham are the ones that believed God, just like Abraham did. And that was accounted to them as righteousness. Verse 9, for this is the word of promise. At this time I shall come to Sarah, and she shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebekah also conceived, by one man, even our father Isaac, for the children not yet being born, not having done any good or evil, that at the purpose of God, according to the election that might stand not of works, but of him who calls, it was said to her, the older shall serve the younger. Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the faith. Isaac was the one God chose to be the son of Abraham through whom the Messiah would come. Through Isaac, Jacob would be the one that God chose to bring the gospel, to bring the hope of Jesus, the line of Jesus, the fleshly line of Jesus, through. Why did he choose Jacob over Israel, over Esau? Some say, well, he saw how they were going to be, and Jacob was more of a faithful one. But Jacob, when you look at Jacob, he wasn't a very faithful guy. But God chose him to do this. And all these people in the line of the Jewish nation have been chosen by God to do this great work, and yet they haven't come to faith in Jesus Christ. They might be sons of Abraham according to the flesh, but they were not sons of Abraham according to faith. And it's breaking Paul's heart. Do you see it? You know, why did God choose Jacob over Esau? A woman came to Spurgeon and said, I cannot understand why God should say that he hated Esau. That, Spurgeon replied, is not my difficulty, madam. My trouble is to understand how God would love Jacob. My difficulty is understanding how God would love me. Without the Lord, I am wretched. I am a sinner. I am hopeless without the grace of God.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

That's Pastor Carl of the Mountain Cross. We are a group of believers located in Waynesville, North Carolina. We simply teach through the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If something you heard today in the Book of Romans has you asking some questions, would you get in touch with us? On our website, we have a contact and prayer form that you can fill out. Just go to themountaincross.com and fill out the form. Someone will get in touch with you soon. If this ministry has been a blessing to you and you'd like to find a way to partner with us in the ministry, there's a donate tab on our website where you can give a financial contribution. It's safe and secure for you to give online. We appreciate any donations. Once again, the website to go to is themountaincross.com. The Mountain Cross meets every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. at Smoky Mountain Cinema. We'd be delighted for you to join us there this weekend. In addition to Sunday mornings, we host a Faith Film Night every first Monday of the month. This is a great way to connect with others in the community and to be immersed in content that is spiritually encouraging. To learn more, just search for Faith Film Night on Facebook, and we'll see you at the movies. Thanks for listening today. That brings us to the close of our program, but we look forward to the next time. Come on up to the mountain with us again tomorrow as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.