Creation Feels Your Pain

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Transcript

Welcome And The Trouble With Waiting

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Hello and welcome to Five Minutes in the Word. I'm Ronnie Cooksie. When you were a child, did you ever cheat and peek into a present? I see that hand. Yeah, we're not so good at waiting, are we? But sometimes the Lord knows that we need to

Romans 8 And Suffering Worth It

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wait. When we pick back up in Romans 8 today, we saw last time that it's going to be worth it for us when we suffer because of our walk with Christ. It'll be worth it in heaven. But also the creation is waiting for that day.

Genesis 3 And A Cursed Creation

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And the creation didn't have a choice in the matter. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sinned against God, and there are many consequences that God gave. The ground became cursed and became harder to work. Thorns and thistles came in. Sin and death came into the world. Before that sin there was no death. And so it was because of that sin against God that death entered into the world. And so one of the somewhat innocent victims was the created order. And so we see that the created order has suffered since then, and somehow even creation longs for the return of Christ, when Christ will return and make things right.

Decay Now And Renewal Later

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But right now everything is decaying. I'm going to lift weights later this afternoon to look good? No, not so much. Just trying to slow down the atrophy. Everything is getting worse. Sorry for the bad news. But a day is coming when it will all be made new. Jesus will return and will usher in the day of the Lord, the last days, and he will eventually create the new heavens and the new earth.

Biblical Hope As Confident Waiting

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And so it says in verse 22 that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but we also ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Beautiful picture, possibly even an allusion back to the consequence that Eve and all women have suffered, the pains of childbirth, but we are longing, we're groaning for Jesus to come back, and we wait in faith. It says, For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees. Now, this word hope is different than the way we use hope today. We think in terms of, I hope it will rain, or I hope this will happen. This hope is a confident, assured waiting, knowing that God will keep his promises.

The Spirit As Down Payment

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And so it said, We have the first fruits of the Spirit. If you've come to know Christ as Savior, the Spirit of God has come to live inside of you. The book of Ephesians tells us it's like the earnest money, the down payment, the promise that God will keep the rest of his promise, come and then take those who have placed their faith in Christ to live with him forever in heaven. And so God gives us that down payment. God gives us the first fruits of the Spirit in us to remind us that He'll keep the rest. And you may need to just know today that God keeps His promises and that you're not the only one waiting for Him to come. And this world is not our home. As the song said, this world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. So this isn't the end. This is very, very temporary compared to all eternity. But hope that is seen is not hope, it says. What an interesting phrase, and it's so true. It doesn't require that we have faith in God for the things that we already understand. We have faith in God for the things that we can't yet see, but we know our coming in his

Encouragement To Trust Through Hard Times

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time. So today be encouraged that God is a promise keeper, that all of creation longs for his coming, and he will come, and he will make every millimeter of all of creation, including you, new, fresh, without sin, without death, without thorns and thistles and cursings and all of those things that have come upon the earth because of our sin, and that day may come even today. Be sure you know Christ, and then walk in him, have faith in him, even through the hard times, no matter how long your hard time may last, it will end. And if you know Christ as Savior, it will end for sure, if

Closing Blessing And Next Time

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not sooner, by you going to be with him in heaven, where all things will be made right. God loves you so much, and I love you. God bless you, thank you so much, and I look forward to picking back up in the rest of this beautiful ending of Romans chapter eight next time. See you then.