The Promise Of Hope In Romans 8

Feature 3 – March 2025 – Grace & Truth Magazine

The Promise Of Hope In Romans 8
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. — Romans 8:18-23 NKJV

Suffering
We live in a fallen world. Everything and everybody, including Christians, on this planet suffer! That is what we are told in the passage above. Yet the Bible does not tell us, “Just get over it.” These verses in Romans 8 do not minimize the pain we experience – they simply put it into an eternal perspective. They actually acknowledge the participation of Christians in the everyday suffering experienced by all of creation. We all groan together as a woman in labor while we wait for God to set all things right. Just as the delivery of a new baby takes time and involves pain, so it will be painful for all creation until the curse of sin is removed.

The curse? Oh yes, that is where it all started – this pain, suffering, death and decay! Everything was absolutely perfect as created by God (Elohim). On the sixth day of creation, when God saw every thing that He had made, He beheld that “it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). There was complete harmony and fellowship with the LORD God of creation; there was no suffering, groaning or bondage of corruption.

All that changed when Adam and Eve rebelled in disobedience to their loving God. Mankind died spiritually that day and commenced a decay of their bodies. Furthermore, the earth, being the stage of man’s rebellion, was made to bear the curse as well (3:17). The inherent consequences of sin – shame, pain, suffering, death and decay – have plagued us ever since.

People do not become sinners because they sin – they sin because they are sinners. We are born into the sinful condition as the consequence of the fall (Gen. 3), being the offspring of our father Adam. Don’t blame God for this situation! He gave man free will to make decisions between right and wrong. From the beginning, “men [have] loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jn. 3:19). There is pain and suffering all around us, not because God ordained it but because “the heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). We continue to be the cause, and we groan under the consequences.

There Is Hope!
C. S. Lewis,1 who watched his beloved wife die of cancer, put it this way: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world” (italics added for emphasis). God’s desire is for us to return to Him and to live in the world a life that is pleasing to Him.

Sometimes we need to be reminded of His will for us. Pain and suffering are sharp, clear tools to achieve that purpose, like a vaccination needle may be necessary to prevent disease or infection. While nobody enjoys the injection, it could prevent a far greater suffering. In our lives, those things that are painful and cause suffering now, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually, can lead to far greater joy later.

Returning to the second half of Romans 8:23 we are reminded that we “groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” In other words, for the child of God there is a time coming when the curse of sin will be removed and pain, suffering, death and decay will cease. We certainly have something wonderful to anticipate. In fact, “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9). The Spirit has already revealed some of those things (v.10), but there is much that we cannot take in at this time.

Who would long for a better future if everything were peaceful and free from suffering and groaning here and now? The believer – an individual who accepts the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ on his or her behalf – has a wonderful, eternal hope! We hold onto the promise that is recorded in Romans 8:18, speaking of “the glory which shall be revealed in us.” The apostle Paul said similarly in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

A Warning
Christians have a wonderful confidence in acknowledging that suffering can draw them closer to the Savior and encourage them to look ahead to the future’s promised blessings. By contrast, the atheist, agnostic and every other non-believer2 have nothing good for which to look forward. They suffer, groan and question, “Why?” with no satisfactory answer. The Bible states unequivocally, in a manner that is entirely clear, that their future will be eternal torture and suffering.3 We warn every reader who has not yet come to believe in the Lord Jesus as the sacrifice for their sin, that they should carefully heed the gospel message printed on the closing pages of this magazine.

ENDNOTES
1. The Problem Of Pain, by C. S. Lewis. He was a UK theologian who authored allegories, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, and other books including Mere Christianity.
2. Non-believers are those who reject God’s salvation offered through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:12-15).

By G. H. B.