LookingtoJesus

Just Like Jesus

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:29, “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.”

I love this quote from A. W. Tozer, “Why did Christ come? Why was he conceived? Why was he born? Why was he crucified? Why did he rise again? Why is he now at the right hand of the Father? The answer to all these questions is, in order that he might make worshipers out of rebels; in order that he might restore us again to the place of worship we knew when we were first created.”

The purpose of Christ’s redemptive work involves more than just our forgiveness. He came and died and rose again in order to restore us again from that which was lost in the fall. In a salvation to the uttermost, God’s plan involves freeing us from sin in every aspect in preparing us for our heavenly home,

What was lost in the fall? We focus on the loss of intimate fellowship Adam and Eve experienced. Their decision in the garden brought sin into the world–into which we are all born into as a result. But something else occurred on that fateful day which has relevance to us all. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. Image means likeness. Look at a penny. What do you see on the front of it? The likeness of the head of President Abraham Lincoln. What you see is not Abraham Lincoln himself, but a visible facsimile. Though there is a theological debate over what is meant by created in the image of God, the obvious answer is it involves, in part, some visible component. In fact, that Adam and Eve saw themselves naked after their sin, bolsters this argument. Their first concern was to cover their nakedness, something they foolishly attempted to do with fig leaves. God did better by mercifully covering them with garments of skin.

What does any of this have to do with being conformed to the image of Christ?  Two terms are used here to describe God’s transformative work—conformed and image.  The first term speaks to an inner transformation, whereas the second term focuses on the external.  God has been at work in your life, believer, in the Spirit’s sanctifying work to transform you from “one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18).  Praise God for that, for without holiness “no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).  There will come a day when you will enter into God’s presence.  You’ll trade in the “tent that is (your) earthly home” for “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).  It is in the putting on of this heavenly dwelling that you will no longer “be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:3).  That’s a good thing, because you can’t go to heaven looking like you do!  Indeed, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50).

There will come a day.  When you die and depart to be with Jesus, or, if Jesus comes before then, you will be instantly and dramatically changed in a divine and miraculous makeover of unimaginable proportion.  Christ Himself will “transform (your) lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him to subject all things to himself” (Philippians 3:21).  What a glorious day that will be (2 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 John 3:2)!  The prophet Daniel spoke of a future resurrection in which “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).  Before the fall Adam and Eve shone with a God-imparted glory, Jesus has worked to restore to mankind that which was lost!

What a glorious Savior!  What an incredible salvation!  What a wonderful destiny!  Your salvation involves far more than just the forgiveness of your sins, God has purposed to conform you to the image of His Son. To make you to be like Jesus! 

O TO BE LIKE THEE!

O to be like Thee! blessed Redeemer;
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Chorus:
O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee!
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

O to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wand’ring sinners to find. [Chorus]

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer, others to save. [Chorus]

O to be like Thee! Lord, I am coming,
Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing;
Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine. [Chorus]

O to be like Thee! While I am pleading
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love.
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit for a life which Thou wouldst approve. [Chorus]

Do the Math

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  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.”

The first word of verse 29 links the verse to what proceeds.  The fact God works all things together for good in the lives of those who love Him is affirmed by His sovereign oversight over their lives from beginning to end.  In God’s salvific work, none are lost along the way, for in every step, be it His foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, or glorification, the same number of souls proceed on in the divine formula.

There are big theological terms used here, giving rise to much theological debate.  Indeed, there is a degree of mystery which belies our full understanding of them.  How can it be that we humans are held responsible for our actions if God is sovereign?  Two of the terms used here in verse 29, are used also in Acts 2:23 where Peter spoke of Jesus, declaring He was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” and that He was “killed by the hands of lawless men.”  So who killed Jesus?  If you were to say He was killed by the hands of lawless men, you would be correct.  Likewise, you would be correct in saying God Himself killed Jesus, for He is the One who premeditated it!  You’ll find a similar juxtaposition of these two truths in Acts 13:48, where it says, “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”  Who was it who believed?  “As many as were appointed to eternal life!” 

Rather than bristle at imagined salvific ramifications of the doctrine of election—which by the way, is a doctrine meant to be a comforting truth for us–we should take God at His word and in its context.  What the passage is saying is God causes all things to work together for good because that’s exactly what He has planned and purposed to do, even from before our birth.  He will finish the work He has started in us.

Charles Spurgeon has commented on this, “The foreordination of God in no degree interferes with the responsibility of man. I have often been asked by persons to reconcile the two truths. My only reply is, “They need no reconciliation, for they never fell out.” Why should I try to reconcile two friends? The two facts are parallel lines. I cannot make them unite, but you cannot make them cross each other. I believe that nothing happens apart from divine determination and decree.  I do not believe that there ever would have been a man delivered from this present evil world if it had not been according to the will, the purpose, the predestination of God. It needs a mighty tug to get a man away from the world. It is a miracle for a man to live in the world, and yet not to be of it. I am sure it would never have been wrought if it had not been according to the will of God our Father.”

God foreknew you.  Before you were born.  God predetermined your salvation, choosing you before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).  He called you.  He justified you.  He will glorify you.  In the present you face all kinds of challenges.  But God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will, will not fail in His plan for you.  As the hymn says, “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing!”  None who have been predestined by God to be glorified with Christ will be lost along the way amidst the mortal ills prevailing in their lives or in this world!  Because of this you can be assured He will cause all things to work together in fulfilling His sovereign plan for you!

I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
to me is daily shown,
nor why, with mercy, Christ in love
redeemed me for his own.

Refrain:
But “I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I’ve committed
unto him against that day.”

I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart,
nor how believing in his word
wrought peace within my heart. [Refrain]

I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing us of sin,
revealing Jesus through the Word,
creating faith in him. [Refrain]

I know not when my Lord may come,
at night or noon-day fair,
nor if I’ll walk the vale with him,
or meet him in the air. [Refrain]

The Good in the Bad (2)

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:28 (NASB), “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

I decided to spend another devotional focusing on this important verse, which is arguably one of the most memorized and quoted of all verses in the Bible.  Rightly so, for the truth of it has provided so much comfort to so many.  It serves as a kind of hinge-point in the chapter.  Preceding we’ve read of how we are told to expect to endure suffering in this world.  Amidst that suffering, we groan, yearning for the redemption of our bodies.  And we hope, with the Spirit-borne confidence, God will fulfill His promises to us.  The theme in the forthcoming verses has to do with our security and triumph.  If God is for us, who can stand against us?  Christ Himself is interceding for us!  Nothing can separate us from His love.  So, there is suffering now, even as we anticipate the triumph which is to come.

Romans 8:28 instructs us in important truths regarding God’s providence which will encourage our hearts amidst our present suffering.  That’s one reason why this verse is so often quoted.  I’ve witnessed the testimony of folks who have endured horrific ills, yet they speak of how they were strengthened by the wonderful promise we find here.

At the heart of this verse is the reality God can bring good out of bad.  That’s a message which transcends the entirety of Scripture—from the fall of man in Genesis 3 to the restoration of things in Revelation 22.  Central to everything is the redemptive work of Christ on the cross.  Man’s radical depravity was unveiled on the evil day Jesus was nailed to the cross.  Evil conspired to do its worst.  So, in one sense, it was an awful and tragic day when Jesus died.  But the badness of that bad led to a good result which is of transcendent import, for Jesus rose from the dead!  It is by means of His death for our sins and His resurrection from the dead that we’ve been saved from our sins.  Noteworthy is the fact God was able to use the evil acts of sinful men to accomplish His predetermined plan, thus bringing good out of bad (Acts 2:23).

God is well able to bring good out of bad because of who He is.  Because He is good and does good, He has the heart to work things together for good in our lives.  Because He works all things according to the counsel of His will, there is nothing we or anyone else can do to thwart Him.  He is all powerful.  Not even death itself could prevent Him from achieving His purpose.   In wisdom He carefully orchestrates the details or our lives in unseen ways.

In the “all things” spoken of there are all kinds of things—what we consider to be good and deem to be bad and even what we find to be ugly.  How helpful it is to know God is sovereignly at work to use them all in accomplishing His good purpose in our lives.

Randy Alcorn once offered some helpful insights on this verse.  Pointing out the verse doesn’t say that each individual thing is good, but that God works them together for good, Randy recalled how he often watched his mother bake cakes.  One day when she had all the ingredients set out–flour, sugar, baking powder, raw egg, vanilla–he sneaked a taste of each one. Except for the sugar, they all tasted horrible. Then his mother stirred them together and put the batter in the oven.  “It didn’t make sense to me,” he recalls, “that the combination of individually distasteful things produced such a tasty product.”  He concluded that God likewise “takes all the undesirable stresses in our lives, mixes them together, puts them under the heat of crisis, and produces a perfect result.”

UNDER HIS WINGS

Under His wings I am safely abiding;
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him–I know He will keep me,
He has redeemed me and I am His child.

Refrain:
Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.

Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blessed. (Refrain)

Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me,
Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore. (Refrain)

The Good in the Bad

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:28, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

You’ve no doubt read the Old Testament account of the amazing life of Joseph.  He faced more than his share of troubles.  It all started for him when his father gave him that multi-colored jacket.  It seemed like a good thing at the time, yet the gift worked to birth some bad sibling rivalry.  Then there was that dream—in which the boy Joseph dreamed that his mother and father and brothers would all bow down to him.  Was that a good thing, or a bad thing?  What we know is it only worked to further exasperate the tension between him and his brothers.  So they decided to kill him.  A very bad thing.  But then some Ishmaelites came along.  It was decided by the brothers that they should instead sell Joseph off into slavery.  A good thing in comparison to death!  He ends up as a slave in Potiphar’s house, and God prospers both him and his master.  A good thing.  But then Potiphar’s wife falsely accuses him and he is sent to prison.  A bad thing.  In prison, he’s a model prisoner and gains favor in the sight of the chief jailer.  A good thing.  The cupbearer and baker for the king of Egypt are sent there too.  They both have dreams, which Joseph successfully interprets.  A good thing. Joseph asks them to remember him, but though the cupbearer gained his release, he forgot.  A bad thing.  But then Pharoah had two dreams.  And the cupbearer finally remembered Joseph.  Joseph was brought from prison.  He interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams.  A good thing.  He was promoted to prime minister of Egypt.  An excellent thing.  When famine came along, Joseph’s preparations and wisdom preserved the lives of many people, most importantly, God’s chosen people.  Joseph recounted such to his brothers, saying, “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about the present result, to preserve many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). 

One might imagine how difficult it must have been for Joseph—at the bottom of that pit; on the journey to Egypt as a slave; in Potiphar’s house; in that prison; forgotten in that prison; isolated from his family and alienated by his brothers.  He must have wondered at many points in that journey–what in the world is God doing!  He didn’t have the advantage of seeing the end point of his journey along the way.  Yet what he did have was faith in God!  He believed in God, and so he endeavored to please God in whatever circumstance he found himself.  God meant it all for good.  And just like that, God is working all things (even what we deem to be bad things) together for good in the lives of those who love Him.

We need to be careful to understand the good spoken of in this verse according to the context.  God’s plan is not so much our present happiness, but our future holiness.  His plan is to bring us to heaven.  He’s at work to transform us from one state of glory to the next until we are fully conformed to His Son (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18).  The process involves a testing of our faith, in which the sinful impurities of our lives are progressively identified and then removed through the inner working of the Spirit.  It is a lifelong process.  It is important for us to keep this process in mind as we confront trials.  Note the phrase “and we know” (Romans 8:28).  You’ll find similar language in other passages which speak of our troubles.  As in Romans 5:3, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…”  And James 1:2-3, “Consider all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance…”  God is sovereign.  God is good.  He is loving.  He is all wise.  And He knows what he’s doing when it comes to the affairs of your life.  You can trust Him.  So, do as Joseph did.  No matter what comes your way, keep trusting God, knowing that He can bring good out of bad in the troubles you face!

THE WEAVER

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned
He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.

– Corrie ten Boom

The Groaning of the Spirit

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:26-27, “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.  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.”

As we’ve previously noted, it is impossible for a believer to live out the Christian life in a healthy and successful way apart from working of the Spirit of God. Jesus referred to Him as the Helper and we all desperately need His help. The word helper actually means one called alongside to help. The fact is, He is so close alongside, He actually indwells the believer in Christ. Preeminent of His helping ministries is mediating to us, in us and through us, the very presence of Christ. He always directs our hearts and thoughts to Christ—who He is, what He is to us, what He has done for us, what He is doing in us and what he has promised to us, etc. Everything we are given to do as believers is to be accomplished by the Spirit. We were convicted of sin by the Spirit. Our eyes were opened to the glory of Jesus by the Spirit. And it is by the Spirit we were born again. We understand truth only through the Spirit. We put off sin with the strength given by the Spirit. We are to worship in Spirit. And pray by the Spirit. We can only bear fruit by the Spirit. We are emboldened by the Spirit, gifted by the Spirit and are transformed by a work of the Spirit. Apart from the Spirit, it’d be impossible for us to take a single spiritual step forward in the heavenly direction. We desperately need Him to lead and empower us.

As we’ve seen, the Spirit has a role as the pledge of our inheritance. He knows where we are going and assures of its certainty. God has prepared a future home for us, which is glorious beyond what we can now even imagine. Eye hasn’t seen and ear hasn’t heard of its beauty. This work that God is doing—in saving us from our sins and safely delivering us to our heavenly home—is a divine miracle of heavenly proportions. The journey is filled with mountains and valleys and hazards of all kinds. We are like those wise men of old who could only hope to find their way as they were led along by a miraculous star. Only for us it is not a star which leads us, it is the Spirit of God. We groan with the expectation of the future redemption of our bodies. We are burdened by the reality of sin and suffering, and yearn for release from these earthly tents which are even now wearing out. We are troubled by so many things. Sometimes the journey is so tedious and difficult we lack neither the willingness nor strength to go on. Sometimes we struggle not just to ask for help in prayer, but to even know what to ask.

How good it is to know the Spirit of God is ever interceding for us!  Creation is groaning.  We are groaning.  And the Spirit of God leads in the chorus.  He knows of our destination and its glory.  He is ever working in our hearts, leading us along God’s ordained pathway.  We don’t know how to pray as we should, yet he knows.  He’s the best of prayer partners.  Never will He pray amiss.  Never will His prayers fail in their appropriateness to our need.  His prayers will always be in accordance with the will of God for us!  He’s prayed for you in the past, He’s praying for you now and will pray you home to your heavenly destination.  Through your good times and bad, through your happy and sad, through the all things spoken of in verse 28, until you are one day you are eternally “conformed to the image” of Christ (Romans 8:29).

Octavius Winslow has commented on this working of the Spirit, “Why are you not a ruin and a wreck?… Oh, it was the Spirit who helped you. Grieved, and wounded, and slighted a thousand times over though He has been, receiving at your hands the unkindest requital for the tenderest love, yet when your infirmity bowed you to the earth, and the sword entered your soul, He drew near, forgetting all your base ingratitude, and administered wine to your dejected spirit, and oil to your bleeding wound, and placed beneath you the encircling arms of His everlasting love.”  How blessed we are by the Spirit’s interceding work!

O GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT – A Puritan Prayer

Thou who dost proceed from the Father and the Son, have mercy on me.
When thou did’st first hover over chaos, order came to birth, beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.

Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart; Take away the infirmities of unruly desires and hateful lusts; Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief; Brighten my soul with the pure light of truth; Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise, rich with every goodly fruit, beautiful with heavenly grace, radiant with rays of divine light.

Fulfill in me the glory of thy divine offices; Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier; Take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul; Through thee may I daily learn more of his love, grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty.

Lead me to the cross and show me his wounds,the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan; May I there see my sins as the nails that transfixed him, the cords that bound him, the thorns that tore him, the sword that pierced him.

Help me to find in his death the reality and immensity of his love. Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in his, ‘It is finished’. Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of atonement achieved, expiation completed, satisfaction made, guilt done away, my debt paid, my sins forgiven, my person redeemed, my soul saved, hell vanquished, heaven opened, eternity made mine.

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons. Write them upon my heart, that my walk be sin-loathing, sin-fleeing, Christ-loving; And suffer no devil’s device to beguile or deceive me. Amen.

The Groaning of the Believer

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:22, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-4, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

I’ve witnessed the slow but sure digression of the health of a hospice patient as they’ve approached death.  A physician had already determined that there was nothing medical which could be done.  The patient was then sent home, or to a care facility.  Sometimes at the start of hospice care, a patient is still ambulatory and able to converse.  Yet as time goes on, body functions fail.  In the end, most are in bed, immobile, unable to take food, or water, or to converse.  That slow digression of health is usually accompanied by pain, and sometimes that pain is vocalized.  Though hospice nurses do a great job of working to manage their pain, it is still not uncommon to hear a patient groaning.  The earthly tent which has been the patient’s home is in the last steps of destruction.  And there’s nothing which can be done to stop it.

I’ve shared 2 Corinthians 5:1-4 with such folks.  It speaks of two main truths: 1) our earthly bodies are like earthly tents; they are temporary dwelling places; 2) when a believer dies, his earthly tent is exchanged with “a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1).  As long as we are in these earthly tents—whether we are healthy now, or dealing with end-of-life issues—we groan with the desire to be released from earthly tents to put on our heavenly dwelling.

It is the Spirit, the first fruits, who keeps us looking forward to that beautiful day.  The first fruits speak of the pledge of the harvest which is to come.  Just like that, the Spirit’s presence is a pledge to the believer of the fulfillment of God’s promise regarding the redemption of the body.  It is because of the Spirit’s indwelling presence in us we groan and to the extent we are filled with Him, we groan all the more.  It is as Charles Spurgeon has noted: “Even this first point of what the saint has attained will help us to understand why it is that he groans. Did I not say that we have not received the whole of our portion, and that what we have received is to the whole no more than one handful of wheat to the whole harvest, a very gracious pledge, but nothing more? Therefore, it is that we groan. Having received something, we desire more. Having received handfuls, we long for sheaves.”

How essential then is hope?  And how necessary is it for believers to fix their hope on that which is assured to us in the promises of God?  Hope, in the Bible, refers to possessing a confident expectation regarding some unseen future reality.  We are all dying, some sooner than others.  We groan now, longing to receive what God has promised–to be released from our earthly bodies to put on our heavenly dwelling.  We groan, longing for freedom, and we hope, confident in the promise of the unseen reality that awaits us.  That hope is what works to keep us persevering amidst our sufferings.  May the God of hope fill us with hope (Romans 15:13)!

Robert M. McCheyne, “When you lay down this body, you may say, ‘Farewell lust forever, fareful my hateful pride, farewell hateful selfishness, farewell strife and envying, farewell being ashamed of Christ.  O this makes death sweet indeed.  O long to depart and be with Christ!”

LONGING FOR HEAVEN

Sure ’tis in vain to seek for bliss,
For bliss can ne’er be found,
‘Till we arrive where Jesus is,
And tread on heavenly ground.

There’s nothing round the spreading skies,
Or on this earthy clod;
Nothing, my soul that’s worth thy joys,
Or lovely as thy God.

‘Tis heaven on earth to taste his love,
To feel his quickening grace;
And all the heaven I hope above,
Is but to see his face.

Why move my years in slow delay?
And why this fear to die?
Death’s but a guide that leads my way,
To a superior sky.

Dear Sovereign, break these vital strings,
That bind me to my clay;
Help me to rise and stretch my wings,
And mount and soar away.

-Isaac Watts

The Groaning of Creation

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:19-21, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.  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.  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

It was the hottest day of the year when our heat pump quit working.  The temperature was unbearable in our house, not good for Laura, who deals with enough pain and discomfort as it is.  I called some HVAC repair companies, but they were all booked out for days.  Fortunately, my son-in-law reminded me of a common heat pump failure which I could diagnose and repair myself.  I found and replaced the failed start up capacitor and that got the thing working again! 

Things in this world break, as Murphy’s law humorously reminds, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong and at the worst possible time.”  My friend proposed a corollary law, “There is a carefully balanced equilibrium of fixed and broken things in the universe.  Fix one thing, and something else must then break!”  Things break.  That’s why there are auto repair shops, appliance repairmen, computer repair specialists, etc.  There are even people who repair broken people—or at least try to.  What doesn’t break, rusts or molds or die.  That’s why there are overflowing garbage disposal sites.  We live in a broken world.

It hasn’t always been that way.  God created a perfect universe and deemed it “very good.”  But then sin entered in, and along with it, the curse.  Since that day, creation has been subjected to futility and is in bondage to corruption.  Weeds grow.  People get sick.  Earthquakes and storms happen.  Cars and buildings deteriorate.  Things rust and decay.  Living things die.

Martyn Lloyd Jones has commented on this, “I wonder whether the phenomenon of the Spring supplies us with a part answer. Nature every year, as it were, makes an effort to renew itself, to produce something permanent; it has come out of the death and the darkness of all that is so true of the Winter. In the Spring it seems to be trying to produce a perfect creation, to be going through some kind of birth-pangs year by year. But unfortunately it does not succeed, for Spring leads only to Summer, whereas Summer leads to Autumn, and Autumn to Winter. Poor old nature tries every year to defeat the “vanity” of the principle of death and decay and disintegration that is in it. But it cannot do so. It fails every time. It still goes on trying, as if it feels things should be different and better; but it never succeeds. So it goes on “groaning and travailing in pain together until now.” It has been doing so for a very long time…. but nature still repeats the effort annually. But, it will be set free one day from this corruption “into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

In this subjection to futility and corruption, all creation groans. It is burdened under the weight of the curse of sin. It yearns for release. It anxiously longs (stands on its toes and stretches to see) and waits eagerly (an attitude of intense yearning and eager waiting) to be set free at the revealing of the sons of God!

There is still a beauty in creation which testifies to the glory of our Creator.  There is still a need for each of us to be good stewards of that which God has blessed us with.  But to expect any kind of paradise on earth is a fool’s errand.  There will come a day when creation will be set free!  And it is on that day that we fix our hope!

SAVIOR! HASTEN THINE APPEARING

Savior! hasten Thine appearing;
Take Thy waiting people home!
’Tis this hope, our spirits cheering,
While we in the desert roam,
Makes Thy people
Strangers here till Thou shalt come.

Lord! how long shall the creation
Groan and travail sore in pain;
Waiting for its sure salvation,
When Thou shalt in glory reign,
And like Eden,
This sad earth shall bloom again?

Reign, oh, reign! almighty Savior!
Heaven and earth in one unite;
Make it known that in Thy favor
There alone is life and light.
When we see Thee,
We shall have unmixed delight.

The Groaning Trio

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:22, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.”

Romans 8:23, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

Romans 8:26, “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.”

We were on a family vacation to Seaside, Oregon.  The whole family was having a fine time in a home we had rented for the weekend.  But on the morning of the second day, I started feeling bad.  The pain gradually increased to where I asked my son-in-law nurse about it.  Eventually, as the pain continued to escalate, we decided to make our way to the local hospital.  Imaging tests revealed a large kidney stone which was unsuccessfully attempting to make its way through my urinary tract.  They medicated me and sent me home.  I was okay for that day and the next, but when the pain subsequently returned, it was so severe I was literally rolling on the floor and moaning and groaning for relief.  That’s the basic idea behind the word as it is used here.  In fact, groaning is analogized to the pains of childbirth. 

The Greek term speaks to the utterances of a person, verbalized or not, who is caught in a difficult situation with no immediate prospect of deliverance.  We groan, for example, when we are required to lift and hold a weighty object for an extended time.  We groan when we are distressed, as we look and yearn for relief from our burden—whatever that might be.  The groaning spoken of in this passage is associated with “suffering.”  We yearn for release from the burden of sin and its consequence (Romans 7:24).

Our passage speaks to a trio which is presently groaning– all of creation, believers, and the Holy Spirit.  All three are said to be groaning in anticipation of something which lies in the future.  You groan now in the earthly tent which is your body, yearning for release.  But thankfully, you are not alone in your groaning!  Indeed, all of creation is singing that same woeful song with you.  It too, was subjected to corruption.  Because of sin, creation has been subjected to futility, and yearns for a glorious future.  The Holy Spirit is likewise groaning, in His prayers, as He intercedes on your behalf according to the will of God. 

Listen carefully, hear that groaning—in creation, in your own body, in the Spirit which indwells you?  What is the theme of their groaning melody?  Is it not that things are not as they should be?  We are burdened under the weight of sin’s corruption, longing for the day when we will be set free.  The groaning reminds us that the permanent release from our present sufferings can only be ours in the redemption of our bodies.  So we fix our hope on that glorious day!

Octavius Winslow has commented on this: “But, oh, there is music in the groaning of those who have the “first-fruits of the Spirit!” The chain they wear is not the manacle of a slave of sin, shaking his galling fetters in deep and dark despair. The captivity that confines him, is not the subjection of a voluntary vassal of Satan, crouching beneath the burden, and trembling at the lash of a hard task master. Oh, no! it is the sensibility, the consciousness, the groaning of the Christian. It tells of the Spirit’s indwelling. It betokens the hope of glory. Those inward heavings of the soul are the pantings of a life divine; those deep groanings of the heart are the muffled chimings of heaven. They are the indices of a nature which God will before long lift to its native home; they are the discordant notes of an anthem, which soon will fill heaven with its swelling and entrancing music.”

CHRIST IS COMING!

Christ is coming! Let creation
from her groans and travail cease;
let the glorious proclamation
hope restore and faith increase:
Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Come, thou blessed Prince of Peace.

Earth can now but tell the story
of thy bitter cross and pain;
she shall yet behold thy glory,
when thou comest back to reign:
Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Let each heart repeat the strain.

Long thine exiles have been pining,
far from rest, and home, and thee:
but, in heav’nly vestures shining,
they their loving Lord shall see:
Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Haste the joyous jubilee.

With that blessed hope before us,
let no harp remain unstrung;
let the mighty advent chorus
onward roll from tongue to tongue:
“Christ is coming! Christ is coming!
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come!”

The Glory in Suffering

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

2 Corinthians 4:17, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Both these verses contrast the believer’s present sufferings against the future glory which lies ahead.  Everyone on this planet experiences suffering.  Indeed, there is no place to which you can go to escape it.  Those who live only for the here and now cannot look forward to any alleviation or escape, because their sufferings are only a precursor to a greater, eternal suffering which is prepared for those who refuse the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10).  The believer faces both common human suffering and the added burden of suffering for Christ’s sake.  It is the prospect of future glory which keeps him from losing hope. 

The Apostle Paul was an expert on suffering, having experienced more than his fair share (2 Corinthians 11:23-29).  He knew all about suffering, but deemed it to be light and momentary in comparison to future glory.  Such afflictions can only be deemed light and momentary when weighed against something else. Imagine a balance scale in your mind’s eye. On one side of the scale, place your afflictions, having gathered them all up, big and small. It seems like a lot, doesn’t it? Now, on the other side of the scale, place the “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” The weight of what God has prepared for us makes our afflictions, though they appear huge to us now, seem smaller in comparison. God has prepared for us “an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison!” To be sure, there’s some mystery here. The term “glory” is itself a big word! Yet bound up in there is the redemption of our bodies, Christlikeness and our future home in heaven! Jesus promised the day will come when He will “transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). The trials we face in the here and now are temporary. The glory we will experience in heaven with Jesus will be forever!

MacArthur nicely summarizes how we should view our present suffering in view of our future glory: “As followers of Christ, our suffering comes from men, whereas our glory comes from God. Our suffering is earthly, whereas our glory is heavenly. Our suffering is short, whereas our glory is forever. Our suffering is trivial, whereas our glory is limitless. Our suffering is in our mortal and corrupted bodies, whereas our glory will be in our perfected and imperishable bodies.”

Our present troubles seem lighter when weighed against the future glory God has prepared for us.  The key then to maintaining hope amidst our sufferings then is to use your eyes of faith.  Depending on the Spirit, as He speaks to you through your Word, you can “set your minds on things above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).  Treat the matter like making a lengthy trip to some glorious destination.  Though you may face some hardships along the way, keeping your focus on where you are going will help you to remain hopeful!

BE STILL, MY SOUL

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heav’nly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; the hour is hast’ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still my soul; when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Suffering Unto Glory

Bible Reading: Romans 8

Romans 8:17, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

This verse introduces a new focus in chapter eight on the suffering of the believer.  In the present, the believer in Christ endures suffering, yet he does so with the assurance of experiencing future glory. 

The word “provided” in our verse can be misunderstood, as the Greek does not connote possibility, but reality, and would be better translated “because.”  The present proof of the believer’s future glory comes through his present sufferings on the Lord’s behalf (Matthew 5:11-12).  There is so much suffering in this world!  Sometimes it comes our way simply because we live in a sin-cursed world.  Other times, we experience suffering as a direct consequence of sin.  This verse focuses instead on suffering brought about because we are identified with Jesus Christ (i.e. “suffer with him”). Contrary to the falsehoods promulgated by certain teachers, the believer in Christ is not to live demanding, or expecting, health, wealth and prosperity.  Instead, we should not at all be surprised by suffering (1 Peter 4:12-13; Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 3:12).

The Spirit of God encourages us amidst our present sufferings by directing our focus to Jesus and all He has prepared for us.  A mountain climber endures much hardship as he scales rocks and snow and crevices and thin air.  He courageously ventures onward and upward to new heights, knowing a glorious panorama awaits when he reaches the summit.  Likewise, the believer endures ridicule, or taunts, or alienation, or estrangement, or betrayal; or physical threats, or harm; or loss of job, or home, or family, or friends simply because he professes Jesus as Lord and Savior!  Such suffering is the birthmark of a genuine child of God, the proof of a believer’s authenticity.  All these hardships can therefore willingly embraced and courageously endured, looking forward to what lies ahead!

When Amy Carmichael was but a young woman, she moved from her home in Ireland to serve as a missionary in South India.  Once there, she served for fifty-five straight years without a furlough.  For the last twenty years of her life, she was bedridden with debilitating pain resulting from an accidental fall into an uncovered pit.  During the long years of chronic pain associated with her injury, she continued to serve as a spiritual mother to the community she founded called the Dohnavur Fellowship, a haven for many, including children who had been rescued from temple prostitution. 

Amy experienced the fellowship of Christ’s suffering not just in the physical pain, which she said, “gnawed like a wolf,” but mostly in her encounters with dark spiritual forces associated with oppressive Hindu practices.  In the area where she worked, girls as young as five years old could be dedicated to the gods.  Once given over to the temple, they became objects of sexual abuse and oppressive Hindu religious practices.  Amy created a refuge for these girls, a dangerous undertaking which evoked the wrath of those who profited from the practice.  Amy authored 35 books about her missionary work, and the following poem about sharing in the sufferings of Christ:

HAST THOU NO SCAR?

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?