Sermon #1237
Title: The Magnitude of Our Heavenly Inheritance
Text: Romans 8:18-23
Readings: Office:
Bob Poncer Auditorium: Larry
Criss
Subject: The Manifestation of the Sons of God
Date: Sunday Evening - June 16, 1996
Tape # S-65
Introduction:
I want to pick up tonight right were I
left off this morning. The title of my message tonight is The Magnitude of Our Heavenly Inheritance. Our text will be Romans 8:18-23. Let’s read it together.
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us. (19) For the
earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons
of God. (20) For the creature was
made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, (21) Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (22) For we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (23) And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our
body."
In this passage, the apostle is
discussing the great privileges and prospects of God’s elect in Christ. He
seems to simply get carried away with the great tide of grace. The greatness of
the things he is writing about seems to have simply engulfed him. He says, “If children, then heirs; heirs of God; and
joint-heirs with Jesus Chris!” What an inheritance! We possess the
inheritance not by our own rights and merits, but by God’s covenant grace and
Christ’s all-sufficient merit as our Substitute. It is true, we must in this
world suffer for a season with him and for his sake; but when our earthly woes
are over, we shall reign with him and inherit all things with him as the
children of God.
In consideration of these things, the
apostle says, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us." This glory
that shall be revealed in us is not the glory that shall be ours as soon as we
die and enter into heaven with Christ. This is the glory that shall be ours in
the consummation of our salvation at the resurrection. It is something
indescribable even by one who was inspired by God. Paul seems to search for
words to speak of it. Notice, just in the verses of our text, he calls it four
different things.
·
“The Glory which shall be Revealed in Us” (v. 18).
·
“The Manifestation of the Sons of God” (v. 19).
·
“The Glorious Liberty of the Sons of God” (v. 21).
·
“The Redemption of Our Body” (v. 23).
This is that “blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior”
(Tit. 2:13) for which we are to constantly look. This is that for which
Peter admonishes us to “Gird up the loins
of our minds, and be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be
brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:13).
Proposition: This heavenly inheritance is an inheritance of
indescribable, universal greatness and glory.
Divisions: This great inheritance, to which the children of God are
all heirs by virtue of our union with Christ, is the subject Paul is dealing
with in our text. It is an inheritance
of such glory and such magnitude that...
1.
The sufferings
of this present time are not to be compared unto it.
2.
It influences
and affects the whole creation.
3.
Our highest
and greatest enjoyments in this world can never satisfy us; but we groan within
ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body.
May
God the Holy Spirit be our Teacher and Guide as I endeavor to show you these
three things from our text.
I. The Glory to be revealed in us
is of such magnitude that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to
be compared to it.
Romans 8:18 "For
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
Paul uses a kind of spiritual
arithmetic here. He places these two opposite things in two separate columns.
The amount of our sufferings in this world, he acknowledges to be very great.
But in the other column, he sees the amount of glory that is to be revealed in
us, and says, the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to even be put in the scales with the glory that
shall be revealed in us. I will not spend a lot of time on this, but let me
say just three things here.
A. The sufferings of this present
time are great.
I know that compared to what Christ
suffered for us, compared to what so many others have and do suffer in this
world, compared to what we deserve, and compared to the glory awaiting us, our
sorrows here are but “light afflictions.”
But I do not suggest that you try telling a man who has just buried his only
child that his affliction is light. The misery of man in this world is great
upon him. Viewed in themselves, our woes are hard to bear, heavy, and painful
beyond description.
Illustration: I have not had to, but I know some people who carry heavy, heavy burdens.
But
the burdens and woes are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be
revealed in us.
B. Our sufferings are confined to
this present time.
The short duration of any agony makes
it bearable if we are confident that the agony will be succeeded by a long time
of relief and enjoyment.
Illustration:
Jacob’s Service for Rachel (Gen. 2(;20).
The Travail of a Woman in Birth.
The Agony of Christ (Heb. 12:2).
C. The glory of our heavenly
inheritance will be so magnanimously great that it will remove from us every
painful memory of sorrow in this world.
Our sorrows here will only add to the
glory of the world to come. I cannot tell you how, but I know that when we have
entered into our glory, our happiness and glory in eternity will be greater
because of our sorrows here.
2 Corinthians 4:17 "For our light affliction, which is but
for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"
1 Peter 1:6-7
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: (7) That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"
“Such will be the joy of the heavenly
inheritance that it will efface from our remembrance the few years of sorrow
which have preceded it; so efface them, at least, that we shall never think of
them with regret, but as a foil to heighten our bliss.”
Andrew
Fuller
The
sufferings of this present time, therefore, are not worthy to be compared to
that glory that shall be revealed in us.
II. So great and magnanimous is
the glory to be revealed in us at the resurrection that it influences and
affects the whole of God’s creation.
Romans 8:19-22 "For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God. (20) For the creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope, (21) Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of
the children of God. (22) For we know
that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until
now."
A. The creature, that is to say,
the whole creation of God was brought into bondage by the sin and fall of our
father Adam.
Adam’s sin reached beyond the human
race. It affected the whole earth. The whole creation was brought into the
bondage of corruption, not willingly, but in consequence of Adam’s
transgression.
·
The ground
itself was cursed.
·
Adam’s house
cat became a roaring lion and his dog a ravening wolf.
This subjection of the creation to the
bondage of corruption was by the hand of God, but it was not to be permanent.
God “subjected the same in hope.” That
simply means that when we are delivered from the curse of sin God’s creation
shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption. The redemption of our
bodies in the resurrection will be the birthday of a new creation. By sin
everything in God’s earthly creation has become in some way subservient to
evil. But God will not allow that to continue. He will, when he completes our
redemption, completely restore his creation to himself, so that everything
shall serve and praise him. There is a day appointed when there shall be a
restitution of all things to God.
·
Acts 3:21
·
Ephesians
1:9-10
When the Lord God created the heavens
and the earth everything, according to its nature and capacity, displayed his
glory. To a very great extent they still do. Therefore, we read in Psalms 19:1-4 "The
heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. (2) Day unto day uttereth speech, and
night unto night showeth knowledge. (3)
There is no speech nor language, where
their voice is not heard. (4) Their
line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the
world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun." This was the natural order of things by God’s design.
Either consciously or unconsciously, everything furnished its tribute of praise
to him who is over all God blessed forever!
But the entrance of sin into the world
changed everything. Everything God created for the comfort of man has been
abused by man. Everything God gave us to use in serving him and honoring him,
we have sacrificed to Baal (Hos. 2:8).
·
Everything in
the world has been sacrificed to some imaginary deity.
·
Every benefit
of creation has been employed by us to serve and gratify our lusts - (Greed -
Adultery - Fornication- Sodomy).
·
The creation
itself has been turned into a god to be worshipped!
The earth is called “Mother Earth!”
Nature is called “Mother Nature!” Even time is worshipped as “Father Time!” Nature,
with fallen man, occupies the place of God.
Though the creatures have no reason or
intelligence, yet there is, as it were, such an instinctive tendency in God’s
creation oppose man that the whole of creation is at war with fallen man. Were
that not the case, there would be no reason for a covenant to be made on our
behalf with the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the creeping things
of the earth, and the very stones of the ground (Hos. 2:18).
B. This bondage of God’s creation
is only temporary.
God, in his infinite wisdom, saw fit
to subject the creation to the bondage of corruption for a season. But it is
specifically said to be a subjection “in
hope” because there is a time set by God when he will deliver his creation
from the bondage of corruption. The redemption of our bodies from the grave
will be for us the destruction of our last enemy and the termination of all the
effects of sin. It will also be the termination of bondage and corruption, of
all the corrupting effects of sin, upon God’s creation. It is for this that the
whole creation groans and travails.
C. Now, notice the threefold
description Paul gives of our heavenly inheritance.
As we look at these descriptions of
glory, remember that Paul is talking about the perfecting and completing of our
salvation through the death of Christ, which is the greatest possible display
of the glory of God. This will be the last of that great series of events that
God has been performing from the beginning of time. This is the thing for which
all things were made and to which all things are subjected.
·
The Goal of
Predestination.
·
The Object of
Providence.
·
Romans 8:28-30
1. First, it is called, “The
Glory that Shall be Revealed in Us.” This refers to the manifestation of
God’s glory that shall be revealed in our consummate salvation.
·
Ephesians 1:6,
12, 14
·
Ephesians 2:7
2.
Second, the completion of God’s work of grace is called, “The Manifestation of the Sons of God.” Here, God’s saints are
little known, hardly noticed, except when derided by the wicked. But this will
be the day of our manifestation.
·
1 John 3:1-2
3. Third, our ultimate salvation is described as “The Glorious Liberty of The Sons of God.”
This will be our happy jubilee!
·
We have been
freed from the penalty and dominion of sin.
·
At death, we
shall be delivered from the presence of sin.
·
But when
Christ comes, when the jubilee trumpet sounds, we shall be delivered from all
the consequences of sin.
We will sing the song of triumph and
victory as we look back upon our empty graves - "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ."
III. Such is the magnitude,
greatness, grandeur, and glory of our heavenly inheritance that our highest and
greatest enjoyments in this world can never satisfy us; but we groan within
ourselves, waiting for the redemption of our body.
Romans 8:23 "And
not only they, but ourselves also,
which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit, the redemption of our body."
A. First, the apostle says that we who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit groan within ourselves.
These are the groanings spoken of in
verse 26. Firstfruits are delightful, but never satisfying. We groan for the
full harvest.
·
Romans 7:24
B. Second, Paul speaks of us waiting for
our adoption.
·
We were
adopted into the family of God by divine decree in eternal election (Eph. 1:3-6).
·
We were
experimentally adopted into the family of God in regeneration, when we received
the Spirit of adoption (Gal. 4:6-7).
·
We shall enter
into the full enjoyment of our adoption in the resurrection
C. Third, the apostle describes our resurrection, our entrance into
heavenly inheritance with Christ as “the
redemption of our body.”
Christ is made Redemption unto us in
this threefold sense:
1.
We were
redeemed from the curse of the law and penalty of sin by the ransom price of
Christ’s shed blood, when he died as our Substitute (Gal. 3:13).
2.
We were
redeemed from the rule and dominion of sin by the power of God’s grace in
regeneration (Rom. 6:18).
3.
We shall be
redeemed from all the consequences of sin in the resurrection.
Illustration: The Robin’s Eggshell
The Two Blackbirds
Application:
1.
What a glorious hope is set before us! Let us set our hearts upon it.
Colossians 3:1-3 "If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set
your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in
God."
2.
The only condition upon which we have a right to claim this inheritance as ours
is our union with Christ. Be sure that you are united to him.
3.
This great, glorious, indescribably magnanimous inheritance shall the glorious
consummation of Christ’s reign as our King.
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God,
even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and
power. (25) For he must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet.
(26) The last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death. (27) For he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things
under him. (28) And when all things
shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him
that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
Amen!