IF God Be For Us…
Women must endure a lot of changes and challenges through the process of pregnancy and eventual birth. But the blessing and the wonder of a newborn baby causes many to say it was all worth it. Those months of pregnancy and the pain of childbirth can not compare to the joy of a new life (or so I was told by my mother!). Paul says that one day, Christian’s sufferings as well as the suffering of the rest of creation will come to an end, and something greater will be birthed…through our glorification. My prayer is that God would bless you with a steadfast hope in Jesus until that day that you are glorified into His image. Amen.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 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 freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Rom. 8:18-25). Paul began by acknowledging that being a Christian doesn’t prevent us from experiencing the trials of life, but that it does give us hope in something that will make all our trials pale by comparison…God’s glorification of us! God’s glory, which has already been deposited in us, will be revealed in us at that time. And while our sufferings are temporary, our glorification will be eternal. And all of creation, which has been groaning and laboring under the effects of sin, is waiting for that moment of glorification. Not only will we experience the full freedom from sin because of our glorification, but all of creation will be liberated from the decay it suffers (because of man’s sin) and enjoy God’s glory as well. We have already received a “foretaste of glory divine” when we received the Holy Spirit (“firstfruits of the Spirit”). But in our glorification we will receive the full measure of what God has for us (i.e. consummation of our adoption into God’s family, redemption of our mortal bodies for immortal ones). So, we eagerly anticipate receiving what we hope for in Christ, even while we patiently endure our present trials and sufferings. I endure my trials because what I’m going through is nothing compared to what I’m going to!
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Rom. 8:26-27). Paul pointed out that we are weak, but God has not left us to our own resources. We have an ever present help in our sufferings, in the person of the Holy Spirit. An example of the Holy Spirit’s help is in our prayers. We don’t know what to pray for or even how to pray to God. But the Holy Spirit searches our hearts and intercedes on our behalf with groans that words can not express, in order to communicate our requests according to the will of God the Father. I am weak but not powerless, because I have the perfecting help and power of the Holy Spirit.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Rom. 8:28-30).
Whatever is going on in our lives…whatever the trials and sufferings…God takes it all and works it out so that it accomplishes His purpose and achieves our good. God does this for “those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose”. Ultimately, the “good” that Paul is speaking of here is the goal of our hope… our glorification. So God is working through all of our trials and sufferings, in the process of sanctification, to get us to our ultimate goal and hope of glorification. Paul contends that we are assured in our hope for glorification because God foreknew us and predestined us for glorification (God’s plan for us was in place even before the creation of the world), called us to salvation and justified us to receive it. Paul indicates that all of these things make our glorification a forgone conclusion (“He also glorified”. note: glorified is past tense indicating it is a certainty). God didn’t bring me this far to leave me. The good work that He has started in me, He will make sure is completed!
Paul encourages us in this scripture, that we can endure whatever our present trials are, because we have our hope in Christ. He sums up why our hope is assured. (1) God knew us intimately and His plan for us was predetermined before the creation of the world (foreknew and predestined), (2) God himself called us to our faith in Jesus and (3) God justified us in order that we could receive salvation. Paul therefore claims our glorification in advance, by saying that God has also glorified us. Paul then asks in verse 31 what all of these things should mean for Christian believers (especially as we go through our sufferings). He asks “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And the answer to that question goes to the heart of why we can endure life’s trials with an eager hope for the future. Because if God is for us…no one can stand against us and His divine plan for us!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
Listen as Three Winans Brothers sing “If God Be For Us”
