WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.560 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.199 Well, good morning, Redemption. 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:22.160 Good morning. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:31.839 Open up your Bibles to Romans chapter 8 or your Bible apps to Romans chapter 8. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:40.159 Last week we looked at verses 1 to 17 and we discovered three things. 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:48.560 We discovered that I have assurance of life in the spirit because I am a child of God. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.840 We belong to God. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:56.079 And just like Jesus, we can call him Abba, Father. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:01:05.920 The second thing we saw last week was: I have assurance of life in the Spirit because the Spirit dwells in me. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.879 We don't have to live in the flesh. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.000 We don't have to live in the flesh anymore. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:19.120 But we can make choices to live in the Spirit. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:42.319 All we have to do is ask for the Spirit's help as we put to death the deeds of the body. 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:46.959 And that process of sanctification we saw causes suffering. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:59.280 And sometimes it causes persecution because others think that we're strange since we don't respond in the flesh to the pain that we experience. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:13.280 Well, today we're going to look at verses 18 to 30, and we're entitling our message this morning, Our Assurance of Hope. 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:14.800 Let's pray. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:28.080 Father, we have just sung some powerful songs to remind us that you are our hope. 00:02:29.520 --> 00:02:36.080 And so, Father, as we open up your word, we ask that you would speak to us. 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:40.159 We long to hear your voice. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:45.039 We long to hear what you have to say to us. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:50.479 So give us ears to hear, give us hearts to receive your truth. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:52.879 And Father God, I'm nothing special. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.479 I just want to be your messenger this morning. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:01.280 And so, Lord God, may we all hear what you have to say. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:07.759 And Father, thank you for loving us so much that you've given us Jesus. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:10.639 You've given us your spirit, you've given us your word. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:14.240 And so it's in Jesus' name that we come to you now. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.360 Amen. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:36.000 Romans 8 verse 18 is Paul's transition statement from the first 17 verses into what he's going to lay out for us in the next few verses. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:38.159 So let's read verse 18. 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:51.919 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:55.120 What a bold statement. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:15.439 He's saying that all the misfortunes, all the calamities, all the evils, all the afflictions, the sufferings, and the pains that he has experienced and that he has seen in others, all that is nothing compared to what's coming. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:17.439 Nothing. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.639 That is a pure statement of hope. 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:38.399 In Paul's mind, hope is the expectation of good things, of joyful things, of a confidence of seeing God's glory in its fullness, in its richness. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:50.079 So the present time is not to take our eyes away from what is to be revealed. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:56.560 The hope is in what is yet to come. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.560 But you know it's more than that. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:16.639 And as we will see, Paul's belief and his desire for our belief is that nothing on this side of Jesus' return will take us away from our hope in Jesus Christ. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:25.439 He is saying in the midst of the personal pain and suffering, don't throw away your life in the Spirit. 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:29.680 Don't throw away your hope in what God has promised. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:39.279 Because our hope is not merely in what is promised, but in who promised it. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:44.720 Our first point today is this. 00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:54.160 I have assurance in hope because I am not alone in the struggle. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.959 Let's look at verses 19 to 23. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:09.439 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:31.680 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:55.680 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now, and not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit grown inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.000 Did you catch those words? 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:07.439 He's putting human qualities on nature. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:09.600 Look at it again. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:33.199 Creation is waiting, eagerly longing, experiencing futility, in bondage to corruption, to decay, trying to get freedom, groaning together in the pains of childbirth, something happened. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:42.480 Paul tells us in verse 17 that we suffer with Christ, but he doesn't want us to stay there. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:50.160 He doesn't want us to feel sorry for ourselves, thinking that we are the only ones that are suffering. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:08:08.879 He puts our suffering in the larger context of the world of creation to show that our individual suffering is part of a much larger chaos and crime. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:15.600 Creation is caught up in the suffering, too. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.279 How did this happen? 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:36.720 Well, earlier in this letter, in Romans chapter 5, verse 14, the apostle says, Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin. 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.039 And so death spread to all men because all sinned. 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:49.279 He is recalling Genesis chapter three, and he's recalling Adam's transgression. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:55.279 When Adam took the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and he ate it. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:09:00.320 That fruit was forbidden by God. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:09.440 But Adam walked away from God's word, and he set himself up to live in the flesh. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:19.600 He was living in the flesh by desiring the very thing that would separate him and his descendants from God. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:37.840 In Romans chapter 8, we can say that, or Romans 8, verse 7, we can say the same thing that Paul, that Adam, rather, did not submit to God's law. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.279 That was the law of not eating the fruit. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:48.399 That he set his mind on the things of the flesh, and that action produced death. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:53.279 Why did this affect creation? 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:04.799 Well, in Genesis chapter 3, God brought Adam and Eve to account for their sin. 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:11.279 And in order to show the ripple effects of their sin, God cursed the ground. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:25.039 And as Paul says in verse 20 of today's text, creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:38.240 It was a sentence arising out of justice for the outrageous offense to God's character and his nature. 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:50.559 It was a judicial judgment that brought all of creation and all of humanity under the sentence of decay and death. 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:58.159 It wasn't Adam who subjected creation to futility. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:04.000 It wasn't the devil who subjected creation to futility. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:05.200 It was God. 00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:15.840 And I know it was God because of the two words at the end of verse twenty. 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:19.440 In hope. 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.639 Adam had no power at that moment to do anything in hope. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.879 And the devil doesn't do anything that has hope in it. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:41.279 Only God could bring about the sufferings of this present time in hope. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.120 In hope of what? 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:50.080 Or who? 00:11:53.679 --> 00:12:06.399 In verse two, we read that the law of sin and death was enacted because of the disgraceful deed of Adam against God. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:32.399 Now, unless we understand that sin is a shameful and scandalous act against the holy, righteous God, we might think that his judicial sentence of subjecting creation to futility in the Garden of Eden is an overreaction. 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:40.639 But sin is an affront to the glory of God. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:46.480 Sin brings pain and suffering and death. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:13:06.159 And God subjected creation to futility and corruption and death to make the horror and the reality of sin so blatantly obvious to our minds that we could not miss it. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.039 But verse 20. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:18.960 In hope, that means that God has a bigger picture in mind. 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:27.519 In hope means that God and only God can bring about a change in the law of sin and death. 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:31.600 In hope means that He has a plan. 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:39.519 In hope means that there is change coming to the state of bondage for creation and for humanity. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:52.720 Verses three and four of this chapter tells us the what and the who of those words in hope. 00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:54.960 Take a look at them. 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:57.120 Verse three. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:14.639 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do, by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:25.120 In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:49.120 And the penalty has been paid by his blood on the cross. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:55.759 We are declared right now not guilty. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:08.320 But there's a there is a not yet realized aspect to this gracious work of God. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:22.639 And until until God brings about the completion of his plan, verse 22 says this to us. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:31.600 It says that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:41.759 I have had the privilege of witnessing three childbirths of our three sons. 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:57.679 And even though I wasn't physically involved in that part, I think I can say that the best thing about the pains of childbirth is what's coming. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.399 The groanings of pain change to cries of joy. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:11.360 The pain screams that something is coming that is worth the labor. 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:14.559 New life. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:25.440 And the apostle uses this word picture to show what is currently going on in the world. 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:36.240 There's pain, but something is coming that will undo the suffering and the futility and the decay and the groanings. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:51.200 Creation is groaning as it waits with eager longing, the apostle says, for the birth or for the full, glorious revealing of the children of God. 00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:09.039 Then the apostle moves back into human territory and he echoes the creation's anticipation. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.720 We groan inwardly. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.160 We wait eagerly. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:23.839 We want our adoption to be realized in its fullness by the redemption of our bodies. 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.400 And then verses twenty four and twenty-five. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:37.759 For in this hope we were saved. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.680 Now, hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:50.000 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:18:00.559 All of this that he has just said points us to the truth that our current pain is not in vain. 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:05.920 We are not alone in our suffering. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:09.200 It points us to the bigger picture. 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:13.039 It points us to the hope of our inheritance. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:20.160 And so the apostle says, so wait for it with patience. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:26.480 That brings us to point number two. 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:39.359 I have assurance of hope because God is working all things for my good. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:45.119 Let's take a look at verses twenty-four to twenty eight. 00:18:47.039 --> 00:19:01.599 Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:12.720 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:23.920 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:36.400 After the creation intermission, the apostle gets back to the Spirit's work within us. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:55.119 We must not dwell on the personal suffering so that they take us away from Christ, but we must realize that we are in a system that is bound to corruption until the hope that God has planned comes about. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:08.000 And so we can wait patiently and we must wait patiently for God to complete his work and his purposes. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:15.519 My weakness would have me give up. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:21.039 My weakness would say, it's just not worth it. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:25.440 My weakness would give in to the flesh. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.480 My weakness would make me forget I'm a child of God. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.799 My weakness would make me leave Christ. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:43.359 My weakness would neglect the Spirit who dwells in me, except for verse twenty six. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:47.839 Likewise. 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:57.440 Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:01.680 In what manner? 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:10.880 The same manner that earlier he sets us free in verse 2. 00:21:12.319 --> 00:21:17.200 The same manner that he gives life and peace in verse 6. 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:21.920 The same manner that he gives righteousness in verse 10. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:28.079 The same manner that he empowers us to put to death the deeds of the body in verse 13. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:35.680 And the same manner that he witnesses to our adoption as children of God in verses 15 and 16. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:55.039 So, in the same manner, in the same manner that he works for our good in these and many more ways, the Spirit helps us in our prayers because we do not know what to pray for. 00:21:57.200 --> 00:21:59.759 As we experience the suffering of our own lives. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:11.920 And as we witness the futility, the decay, and the groanings of creation, we are at a loss as to know how to pray for change. 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.759 What does the verse say though? 00:22:18.559 --> 00:22:20.960 But the Spirit. 00:22:24.079 --> 00:22:34.480 But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:37.359 We need to pause here for a moment, okay? 00:22:39.519 --> 00:22:58.319 The very one who has been given to us as a seal of what Christ did on Calvary, the very one who dwells in us to influence us and bring us life and peace is the one who also intercedes personally. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:02.480 Personally. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.119 Oh my goodness, that's exciting. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:07.759 The Spirit himself. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:19.039 He personally intercedes for you and for me. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:26.319 And because of his relationship with the Father, he prays through our groanings. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:38.079 And the Father, we're told here, who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.920 Don't miss this. 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:59.440 God, the Spirit, intercedes personally for us, and the sense here is that his prayers are effective to accomplish exactly and completely what God wants. 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:10.480 I may be weak in prayer, but the Spirit is powerful in intercession for me. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:17.440 You may be weak in prayer, but the Spirit is powerful in intercession for you. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:25.119 Now, this is not saying that we do not need to pray. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.720 In fact, it's saying just the opposite. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:45.920 In the moments when we feel that the futility of life and the corruption and the decay of our bodies and the wordless frustration of our situations are there, those are the times we need to pray, even if it is only in groaning. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.920 Pastor H.B. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:55.359 Charles Jr. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:24:58.240 says this about prayer. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:11.440 The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:28.400 The scripture says here that even in our groanings, the Spirit is interceding for us to our Abba Father to bring about what is good for us. 00:25:33.279 --> 00:25:39.440 And one of his prayers is explained in the precious words of verse twenty-eight. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:53.839 And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:01.839 The word that Paul uses here for love is agape. 00:26:05.519 --> 00:26:08.640 We know that it is the highest kind of love. 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:15.759 No restrictions, no conditions, no hesitations, but just love. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:25.920 The Spirit's prayer for us is that we would have unconditional love for God just as He has for us. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:29.759 And so the Spirit prays for me. 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:38.400 The Spirit prays for me when I feel the pains of aging, he prays that I would love God. 00:26:40.240 --> 00:26:47.119 When I witness the tragedies of life around me, he prays that I would love God. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:54.319 When I suffer the loss of someone I love, I would love God. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:27:01.519 When I experience the consequences of my sinful flesh, he prays that I would love God. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:12.240 When things are going well and I fail to love God and I love myself more, the Spirit is interceding and praying that I would love God. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:32.319 The Spirit's intercession for us is that the will of God would be done in our lives for our good in the midst of the suffering and calamities, so that his purposes are accomplished. 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:37.200 So that his glory is revealed. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.319 How do we know this? 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:48.000 Because of verses twenty-nine and thirty. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:52.880 And that leads us to our third point. 00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:03.839 I have assurance of hope because I have been called according to God's purposes. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.839 Let's read twenty-nine and thirty. 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:34.079 For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers, and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified. 00:28:36.880 --> 00:29:04.559 These verses are power-packed because they prove that even in the judgment of Genesis chapter three, where God placed everything in creation under a futility sentence, he did so knowing that he would also bring about the redemption and salvation of humanity and then release creation from its sentence. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:14.079 Verse 19 says that the creation is waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:26.079 And verse 21 says that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:37.519 Creation is waiting for God to reveal the plan of his redemption for his children. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:46.720 And the key is God's completion of the sentence he righteously set out in Genesis chapter 3. 00:29:46.960 --> 00:29:51.519 And you and I, we are part of that revelation. 00:29:53.519 --> 00:29:59.599 Until then, the plan of God is that he would choose those who would be his children. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:05.920 The plan is that he would make them to be in the same image as his son. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:13.200 Jesus, who became human. 00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:21.440 God's plan of redemption is that I would be conformed to the image of Jesus. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:28.559 God's plan of redemption is that you would be conformed to the image of Jesus. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:37.680 In verse 17, we read that as children of God and heirs of Christ, we may suffer with him. 00:30:38.880 --> 00:30:43.039 Well, we know from the biblical record that he has already suffered. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:48.720 We read of his passion and his torture, his death and his resurrection. 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:59.039 In Hebrews chapter 2, verse 10, it says that Jesus was made perfect through suffering. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:08.240 This means that his righteousness was made complete through what he suffered. 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:18.640 Now we know that he was sinless, but the suffering proved to be a perfecting of his righteousness. 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:28.960 It was completing what he had to learn in practice and in pain what it means to obey. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:34.559 That's how he can be our perfect high priest, how he can relate. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:47.680 And that image of the obedient Son of God is the one that Abba Father wants us to become. 00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:13.119 The groanings that we express and that the Spirit uses to take to the throne of mercy and grace on our behalf are all working together to bring about the purposes of God. 00:32:15.920 --> 00:32:18.559 Quoting again from Pastor H.B. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:34.400 Charles Jr., he says, It is the will of God to have the Spirit of God use the Word of God to make the children of God look like the Son of God. 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:41.680 Now, I don't want to be presumptuous, but I think he's missing one little phrase there. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:45.359 So if you'll bear with me, I'm going to add to it. 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:47.440 And it goes like this. 00:32:48.240 --> 00:33:03.200 It is the will of God to have the son, to have the Spirit of God use the Word of God to make the children of God look like the Son of God for the glory of God. 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:15.440 Even as Adam was dragging himself and the rest of creation into the abyss, God had a purpose. 00:33:16.079 --> 00:33:28.240 His name would be honored, his creation would be restored, his children would be redeemed, his son would be the firstborn among many brothers. 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:31.519 His glory would be revealed. 00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:42.640 His whole plan and purpose and nature would be rightly and properly recognized, and he would be revealed and glorified. 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:48.799 And he would do that by setting out the plan for his children. 00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:57.200 God knew beforehand, that is, he foreknew what he was going to do. 00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:11.119 He decided beforehand, that is, he predestined that his children would follow in the righteous footsteps of their older brother, Jesus. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:21.599 Abba's father knew that he would call his children, justify his children, and glorify his children. 00:34:21.760 --> 00:34:22.559 He knew all this. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:23.840 He had a plan. 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:28.239 Adam's sin did not sway God from his purpose. 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:32.559 Your sin, my sin, does not sway God from his purpose. 00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:40.960 He has been determined from the beginning to bring me to the point where I look like Jesus Christ in all his glory. 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:52.000 God has been determined from the beginning to bring you to the point where you look like Jesus Christ in all his glory. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:35:16.880 The suffering I face, the pain I endure, the tragedies, the calamities are all part of the conforming process in my life to make me look like the Son of God, so that I will enjoy the glory that Abba Father has prepared for me. 00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:19.360 And so it is with you. 00:35:20.960 --> 00:35:24.159 You are not alone in the struggle. 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:31.199 You are not without help in the suffering that you are facing or the suffering that you will face. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:40.000 You are not neglected in the groanings that can't express the pain you feel in the futility of life. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:44.719 Your life is not futile. 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:48.480 Your life is not without purpose. 00:35:49.280 --> 00:36:00.480 Your life is being carefully and lovingly shaped by the intercessions of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:07.760 He is following the direction and the plan of Abba Father. 00:36:09.760 --> 00:36:17.840 He is following that plan to bring you to glory, to make you worthy of the calling that God has on your life. 00:36:19.679 --> 00:36:40.639 And as the apostle reveals in the remainder of this chapter 8, he says that there is nothing on this side of creation or in the spiritual realms that can or will separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 00:36:41.440 --> 00:36:42.320 Nothing. 00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:52.719 Our hope is in the one who has known about all of this from the beginning. 00:36:53.360 --> 00:37:02.320 Our hope is in the one who has predestined all this and will work all things together for our good. 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:08.880 Our hope is in the one who has called us, his children. 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:14.880 Our hope is in Abba Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:37:16.159 --> 00:37:43.039 Our hope is that on the day when all things are made right and we see Jesus face to face, our minds, our bodies, our hearts will be so changed by what God did in us and through us and despite us here on earth that nothing will impede our enjoyment and our consumption of Jesus Christ in his glory. 00:37:45.840 --> 00:37:48.880 That's what I hope for. 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:52.400 How about you? 00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:57.840 Let's pray. 00:38:02.480 --> 00:38:32.960 Almighty God, Abba, Father, as we seek to absorb your word this morning, we ask that in your grace and in your mercy, that we would be willing to allow you to do the very things that you desire to do in our lives. 00:38:36.480 --> 00:38:44.320 That we would be submissive to the Spirit as He sways us, as He influences us. 00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:56.800 That we would not be taken away from our hope in you and our hope in what you are going to do. 00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:02.880 Lord God, it calls for us to wait with patience. 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:10.079 And so, Abba, Father, we wait on you. 00:39:13.360 --> 00:39:18.880 Lord God, go with us now as we remember all these things. 00:39:19.440 --> 00:39:26.960 Holy Spirit, implant them in our minds and in our hearts. 00:39:27.280 --> 00:39:35.760 And Lord Jesus, may you be glorified as we live out our lives in your name. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:38.800 In your name we pray. 00:39:39.360 --> 00:39:40.000 Amen. 00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:49.519 Well, redemption, it has been good to worship with you this morning. 00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:58.400 Remember, in all things, God is working out good in your lives. 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:00.000 Go now. 00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:01.519 You are loved. 00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:03.039 Have a great day.