YOUR FUTURE GLORY
August 29, 2010 Romans 8:14-24
More Than Conquerors #4 I am Resurrection and I am Life, says the Lord. Whoever has faith in me shall have life, even though he die. And everyone who has life, and has committed himself to me in faith, shall not die for ever. (Jesus)
As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives and that at the last he will stand upon the earth. After my awaking, he will raise me up; and in my body I shall see God. I myself shall see, and my eyes behold him who is my friend and not a stranger. (Job) For none of us has life in himself and none becomes his own master when he dies. For if we have life, we are alive in the Lord, and if we die, we die in the Lord. So, then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s possession. (Paul)
Happy from now on are those who die in the Lord! So it is, says the Spirit, for they rest from their labors. (Revelation to John) - Quotations from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, pg. 491
This week I attempted to outline an incredibly complex paragraph/passage in the middle of Romans 8. Sometimes the writing of the Apostle is difficult and hard to understand (read Peter on the same thing! II Peter 3:15-16). Here are some questions and discussion items to further unpack the main message of Romans 8:18-24: 1. Read about The Fall in Romans 5:12-19. Refer also to the Story of the Fall in Genesis 3 as well. Do you agree that there is something not right with creation: both in nature and in humankind? 2. Read Romans 8:19-22. Note the ways he describes creation: longing, futility, held in bondage, groaning. Paul sees that creation is also subject to the effects of sin. Comment on this. Does this explain natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina? Refer to I Cor 15:21-22. Does Paul seem to include nature and creation in the effect of the Fall? 3. Would you describe nature as “subjected to futility”? Paul means the endless cycles of rising and falling, birth and death, and order to disorder. Scientists call it “entropy”. I described my trip down memory lane in my recent visit to Nogales. Everything had changed. It was obviously older, but also more dreary, than I remembered. Decay and corruption (vs. 21) had set in. How can you relate to this experience? Do you see “entropy” in nature and creation? 4. Paul changes the subject from creation to humanity in vs. 23. But note verses 22 and 23. Both creation and humanity groan “in the pains of childbirth”. The indication is that one day a new creation and new humanity will be realized. (Read Rev. 21:1-22:5) This is in fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah 65:17. How does this relate to Paul’s topic sentence for this paragraph back in verse 18? How does the promise of the “new” outweigh the hard reality of the present? (Cf. II Cor 4:17) How is this like childbirth? 5. How does the understanding of our “future glory” give you hope for today and for eternity? Read slowly through the verses in the left margin. These are from the burial office of the Book of Common Prayer. Summarize how each statement is an example of hope at a time of loss. Amplify on the hope that it promises. 6. What kind of body did Jesus have after the Resurrection? What did He do in His body? What was His life like for those 40 days before the Ascension into heaven? (Luke 24) The bible says that you will have this kind of body when there is a new heaven and a new earth. This is what Paul means in Romans 8:23. Note from these verses what kind of world it will be: 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:4; I Cor 15:26; Romans 8:21; I Cor 15:42-43. The Bible calls this kind of life: glory. Comment on this aspect of Christian hope. 7. John Calvin the great reformer would sometimes close his sermons with these simply and profound words: “and now let us bow down before the majesty of our gracious God.” How is that an appropriate response to future glory that will be ours according to Romans 8? How would you ‘bow down’ before God? What does that mean for you today?