Future Glory

Future Glory

Romans 8:18-25

Good Evening,

Tonight, we are going to be Romans 8:18-25.

And the title of my message is Future Glory.

Tonight, we are going to talk about the future promise of heaven.

A promise of restoration and fullness that goes beyond anything we can find here and now in 2024 or beyond in 2025.

JOKE: “A man arrives at the gates of heaven and is greeted by Peter, who says, ‘To get in, you need to spell a word.’ The man asks, ‘What word?’ Peter smiles and says, ‘Any word you choose.’ The man says, ‘Love. L-O-V-E.’ Peter says, ‘Come on in!’ A few months later, Peter asks the man to watch the gate. While he’s there, his old boss shows up. Surprised, he says, ‘Sir, what are you doing here?’ He explains her unexpected arrival, and he tells her, ‘To get in, you have to spell a word.’

He says, ‘Okay, what word?’ He grins and says, ‘Czechoslovakia.’

Thankfully, we know that the future glory we will experience will be nothing like the testing and trials we have faced here.

Tonight, I want to talk about the reality we are currently living in, the future glory we have to look forward to and the blessed assurance we have today as we patiently wait for the future hope to be revealed.

Let’s look now at Romans 8:18-25

Romans 8:18-25— For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we 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. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it.

The Reality of Present Suffering

1. There is something wrong here.

• There is disorder and brokenness. Sin abounds. Suffering abounds.
• Paul acknowledges that there is suffering in this life.
• And because there is suffering, there is this longing for restoration.
• There is this general feeling that everything is not how it is supposed to be.
• There is suffering—emotional, physical, and spiritual.
• No one is going to argue against this. It is no secret that in this life, we experience feelings of discontent, struggle, and pain.
• But what does Paul say about this brokenness/suffering?
• Not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us.

 God is going to make it all worth it.

• I think of it this way. At the end of the pain is heavenly gain that will make the pain look like nothing.
• Paul says that we groan, along with creation, for this redemption.
• We have pictures of this in life:

Illustration: The pains of childbirth are horrendous. But what they bring about is worth all the waiting, groaning, and hurt. While it is overwhelming at the moment, all of a sudden, everything changed when we held our baby girl in our arms.

• It is not that childbirth is easy. It is that holding a child makes it all worth it. Imagine if, in that moment of great pain, we defined fatherhood or motherhood. How tragic and short-sighted?
• This is how many of us define our relationship with God. It is how we look at the world. We experience great pain, sorrow, and distress, and we are convinced it means God is cruel or not with us.
• But what scripture says to us today… this isn’t the goal or the end. This is not our home.
• On this side of heaven, we are only going to experience a taste of the glory to come. But while we wait, we need to understand some key things about the suffering and challenges we face.

Application

1. Know that Pain Is Part of the Game

• We are not excluded from pain.
• We are not promised a life without trials and troubles
• Following Jesus may take us into pain rather than away from it.
  • JOHN PATON STORY: In 1858, John and his wife Mary felt called by God to go to the New Hebrides island in the Pacific Islands to reach an indigenous tribe of cannibals. Upon arriving on the island, Mary gave birth to their son, but both shortly died of tropical fever. John remained on the island and, despite his immense grief, still felt called to carry out his mission.
  • He wrote, “I felt her loss beyond all conception or description, but felt immovably assured that my God and Father was too wise and loving to err in anything He does or permits.”
  • The indigenous people did not like John’s presence on the island and tried to kill him multiple times. Falling asleep alone at night he would cling to God as his protection.
  • He wrote “ “I knew not, for one brief hour, when or how attack might be made, and yet, with my trembling hand clasped in the hand once nailed on Calvary, and now swaying the scepter of the universe, calmness and peace abode in my soul.”
  • Paton’s courage and unshakeable faith softened the hearts of the islanders. He built relationships with them and taught them about Jesus. Eventually, he led the entire island to the Lord. The island is no longer known for cannibalism but has become a vibrant community of faith in Jesus.
• John Paton could have given up on God. He could have responded to death and suffering by walking away from God and the plans God had for him.
• Instead, he trusted in God and clung to Christ as his anchor.

1. There is a Great Gain In Pain

• Romans 5:3-5—” And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

• We have hope in Christ. But where did that hope start, according to Romans 5? It comes from the deepening of faith that comes only in trials and challenges.
• What do we gain from pain? A new and profound understanding that God is our deliverance and our hope.
• We don’t muster up more hope for ourselves, but that hope is found in heaven. That hope rests on Christ.
• So what is the suffering for? God can use it for our good.
• PAUL TRIPP QUOTE— Suffering has the power to expose what you have been trusting all along. If you lose your hope when your physical body fails, maybe your hope wasn’t really in your Savior after all. It was humbling to confess that what I thought was faith was actually self-reliance.”
• When we are suffering physically and emotionally, we don’t have to suffer spiritually oftentimes, though our emotional and physical distress will reveal to us our spiritual brokenness.
• Suffering wakes us up to the reality that we need Christ to renew us from within.
• As Corinthians says:
• 2 Corinthians 4:16-17—“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

1. All Pain Has An Expiration Date

• Momentary affliction.
• Going back to the illustration of childbirth. It is long and feels like it lasts forever. At times, it feels overwhelming to the point of breaking.
• Every time, it was like this. But once the groaning is complete, there is this excellent relief and overwhelming joy.
• I remember my wife saying to me after we had our second son, literally the next morning, that she could do it again in a heartbeat. I remember laughing and saying I don’t know if I was ready for that.
• But this is the truth of all the experiences of tribulation and pain.
• They are just a moment. They feel like forever.
• But this stems from a small view of God’s redemptive timeline.
• ILLUSTRATION: I know illustrations have there limits but lets imagine for a moment that this small spot on the stage is your life. Then all of the floor in this entire building is eternity after your life is over.
• While we sit here in our moment… God has for us an eternity that far outweighs the suffering we experience here.
• It is not that our lives are insignificant. Think about it. In this moment, we have to make the decision to follow Jesus, which will have massive consequences for eternity, with or without him.
• And if you just took a breath here in this room, then God is not done with you. He has a purpose for you to breathe on this planet again.
• He has a calling on your life to lead others to know him so they can be with Him for eternity.
• He has called you to be a father, mother, husband, wife, friend, coworker, and student in every aspect of your life to give him glory and to live as a living offering for him.
• But let us not forget that we are aliens and sojourners.
• We are passing through this life into a greater life ahead.
• Our citizenship is in heaven.
• Philippians 3:20-21–For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
• S. LEWIS QUOTE: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

The Promise of Future Glory

1. We are destined for glory.

• When you feel frustrated with the circumstances of your life.
• When you are struggling with your health and experience the breakdown of your physical body.
• When there is this feeling, “there has to be better.”
• The answer: You and I are made for so much more.
• We are destined for heaven. We are destined for God.

2 Corinthians says it like this:

2 Corinthians 5:1-5—For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

• As Romans said, we hope for something we do not have.
• Now, both passages describe our condition as groaning.
• The English here creates a negative connotation.
• Groaning can be seen used elsewhere in scripture to tell more about someone who has a deep longing and even deep prayer about something that has bothered them.
• Here and not, we have this desire to be fully restored.
• And there is good news: God will keep his promise.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58—We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

• The longing will stop. The groaning will stop.
• Jesus is coming back, and he is going to right all of the wrongs.
• Death, sin, shame, and all pain will swallow up in victory.

What is the future glory we have to look forward to?

• It is coming home. But more than that. It is being with Jesus.
• It is being in the light and glory of his presence.
• It is experiencing the fullness of joy and love.
• Charles Spurgeon: “To be with Christ is the greatest joy of heaven. Whatever else we may look forward to, Jesus Himself will be the crown of glory.”

1. Heaven is about Jesus

• Revelation 21:3-4—”And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
• We just celebrated Christ’s first coming and the amazing wonder of his incarnation. But his second coming will be even greater, for he will restore all things. And this is what Christ desires and promises us!

• John 17:24—”Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
• Jesus will have center stage in heaven, and in his presence, we will experience love and fulfillment that can’t be compared to anything in this life.
• And this is the main point of heaven. Jesus’ overwhelming presence.
• QUICK BACKGROUND DON JONI:

• Joni Erickson Todd QUOTE: “When I get to heaven, I will be free of my broken body. But more importantly, I will fall at Jesus’ feet and worship Him forever.”
• This sums things up so beautifully. The restoration of our broken bodies is part of heaven. But we are not going to sit and ponder about our broken state on earth for eternity.
• In a moment, we will be transformed.
• And we will be more alive than we were even here.
• And we will no longer be hoping and longing, but in Christ’s presence, we will be satisfied and whole.
• Jesus promised in John 3:1-3:
• John 3:1-3—“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God;believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

• Jesus will come back, and the glory that will be revealed will be beyond our wildest dreams.
• The comforts and security we experience in this life are nothing compared to the plans and things God will reveal for those that he loves.

APPLICATION

So what should we do?

The Call to Patient Hope

1. Live less focused on here and more focused on what is ahead.

• 2 Corinthians 4:18—We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2. Live with the assurance that God is with us in our pain now!

• Earlier, I read from 1 Corinthians 15, which speaks about the rapture and our victory in Jesus. That we will be transformed. It then concluded the chapter by saying:

1 Corinthians 15:58— Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

• Let nothing move you.
• What can come against God’s beloved?
• When we stand firm on the victory of Christ we can have no fear in death.
• The challenge about our present suffering is that suffering tells us that God is not for us when truth is that Christ suffers WITH US.
• Hebrews 4:15—”For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
• 1 Peter 2:21—Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
• He empathizes with our human brokenness. He became like you and me. And Christ suffered MORE than any human being suffered ever.
• No human being has ever suffered as much as Christ did. Why? Because that is what he did on the cross. He bore all of our sins and our iniquities. And why? For GLORY!

David Crowder Lyrics!For the Glory of It All. He Came Here. For the rescue of us all. That we may live. For the Glory of It All.

Jesus suffered, and now he suffers with us, and he gives us strength.

Hebrews 2:17-18—“For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

• He gives strength to those who are weak. He intercedes now by the Spirit of God on behalf of all who suffer in this life. And he has given us the example to follow as we look to Him and patiently wait for Him to come and make all things new!

3. Live to make heaven more full by making the gospel known.

Randy Alcorn Quote—“The best of life on Earth is a glimpse of Heaven; the worst of life is a glimpse of Hell. For Christians, this present life is the closest they will come to Hell. For unbelievers, it is the closest they will come to Heaven.”

• Right now, we get a taste of heaven by having a relationship with God.
• But even an atheist gets to common grace. I believe God is relentlessly pursuing the hearts of all sinful men and desires for them to know his amazing love for them.
• God loves sinners and wants them to turn to Him. His love is so vast and glorious that it goes beyond any power in this world of darkness.
• But what is ahead is even greater for those in Christ. And what is ahead for those apart from Christ is greater than any suffering this life could produce.
• I pray we would be a church that speaks of heaven often and would lead others away from an eternity of suffering into the life and light of Christ.

OPPORTUNITY AND PRAYER!