You can turn in your Bibles to the New Testament this evening, to Romans the 8th chapter. Romans chapter 8, the chapter that describes to us the victory that God has given us over our sinful flesh and our deliverance from the law and our flesh's failure to fulfill the law and the victory that is given to us through the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we want to begin reading verse 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified 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. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also should be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 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 bodies. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. But would a man see it, why does he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Let's pray together. Dear God, as we look into your word this evening, we pray that you would speak to us, reveal to us, and encourage us like the Holy Spirit intended through this wonderful passage of scripture that Paul has penned under your inspiration. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. So, as you look at the flow through the Book of Romans, you come to The seventh chapter, Paul picks up the topic of the law and the believer's relationship to the law, what his attitude should be to the law. And that leads him also into discussing the purpose of the law. And the purpose of the law being a good thing, to reveal to us the character of God and to reveal also to humanity the the true character of the fallen human nature. As the sinful human nature is confronted by the law, it rises up in rebellion towards it. And in the life of the believer, Paul describes towards the end of Romans 7, the believer also has a delight to do the will of God and to obey the things of God, and yet he finds within himself this this part of him that always seems to fail, always seems to come short, as we are still left in this life even though we are regenerate and born again with the remnants and remains of some of the old sin nature as well. And now to encourage the believer, the Apostle Paul, still continuing with the issue of the law, encourages Christians by reminding them that for those who walk according to the Spirit of God, those who are in Christ Jesus, there is therefore no condemnation. Because they have been, in fact, united to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Blessed Holy Spirit, whom is given to God's elect. verse 16, the Spirit itself bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And as the Lord Jesus Christ is of course the child of God by natural generation being the eternal law God as we were discussing this morning in Sunday school, the Word become flesh, God being his natural father and in him dwelling all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And yet in a marvelous way, in a mysterious way, in a supernatural way, we have been also adopted into the family of God. And this adoption is signed and sealed in our hearts and in our lives by the Holy Spirit. And thus we also enter into the promises that the Lord that God has promised to his son the Lord Jesus Christ and as his joint heirs we also participate in the promise of that blessing verse 17 and if children then heirs heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ as we enter into into the family of God we as God's God's heirs also. We receive the same promises that the Lord Jesus Christ does. He of course being our head, we being his joint heirs. But there's also something else that we enter into as we enter into union with our Lord Jesus Christ. Not only do we enter into all the benefits of being a son of God, But we also enter into the suffering that the Son of God experienced as He took upon human flesh and became the Word Incarnate. Which is continued on in the rest of the verse, in verse 17, the latter part. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. So as the adopted children of God, adopted sons of God. We enter into the family of God and the body of Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we become partakers with Christ in his glory. But before that we also must become partakers of Christ in his sufferings. And then to encourage these believers even more and to remind them of the great privilege it is to be part of the family of God and to be a joint heir with the Lord Jesus Christ and to have entered into union with Him. The Apostle Paul amplifies this more by describing in verse 19 an earnest expectation. He says in verse 19, the beginning says, for the earnest expectation. The earnest expectation. What do we think of when we think about an expectation? Well, we think of something that we are expecting to happen. An expectation. Something that we believe is going to take place. And this isn't just any ordinary expectation. This is described as an earnest expectation. And this is an earnest expectation, an expectation that is very deeply felt, an expectation that is very greatly anticipated and hoped for. But whose expectation is it that is described here in verse 19? Well, here it's described as the earnest expectation of the creature. You could translate it, the creation. And there's been different ways that preachers and theologians have understood the use of the word creature here. And I was looking at some of those different views this afternoon. There are some that have assumed, and I believe incorrectly, that the word creature here is referring to the Gentile world. The world of the Gentile, the non-Jewish believers. And here I believe was demonstrated to me the dangers of doing word studies in the Bible. You know, it's a good thing to be able to read the Bible in the original languages, but we often have to be careful about word studies. Because when we do a word study, we always have to consider the breadth and the narrowness of the definition of that particular word, and how far we can expand that word. Let me give you an example here. The word that's translated here, the creature, in Greek, the teis kiseios, is the same construction that is used at the end of the Gospel of Mark, where the Lord Jesus Christ is are recorded as telling the disciples to go into all the nations and preach the gospel to every creature. It's the same word that's used here. It's also the same Greek word that Paul uses over in Colossians chapter 1 and verse 23. where it says, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven. Same word is used here. But you all have to ask yourself, how is that author using that word, and how is he using it within the grammar and the context of the sentence. What are the other words and the other nouns and adjectives that surround that word that the writer is also using? Because very obviously the Apostle here in Colossians chapter 1 verse 23 no doubt means people. He's no doubt referring to people. But whether he's referring to people here in Romans chapter 8 verses 19 to 21 is very doubtful as we look at it within its context. For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestations of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." So the creature that is being described here is a creature that is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. And there are some very rich words that are used here in this 19th verse. This is a creature that was made subject to vanity, not willingly. Now how were human beings made subject to sin and vanity? Were they made that way by creation or were they made willingly? Why are people sinful? Why are people subject to vanity? Because Adam and Eve willfully sinned in the Garden of Eden. And as their children, we also, in them, sinned willingly. So in the end, there is no excuse for sin. But when we are talking about the material creation that God created this beautiful cosmos or ornamented universe that God created, we read in the Genesis account that after each stage of creation, God describes his creation as good. And we read nothing about creatures being brought into subjection unwillingly. until after the fall in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve, as the keepers of the world, the vice-guarantors of the world, experience in a dreadful way the dreadful effects of sin and death and decay, expressed first of all in their fear of God, their alienation from God, and the changes that no doubt took place within the creation. And then, that very awful manifestation of sin that took place between their two sons, Cain and Abel, when Cain rose up and killed Abel out of jealousy, because God received Abel's offering and not his, because it was an act of faith, his offering. By sin the creation has been subject to vanity. And so what Paul does here is he uses a figure of speech called personification. Whereby Paul takes the material world and he presents it as a living being, as a living person. Now there were those in Paul's day particularly in the Greek and Roman world that believed that the world was a living organism, which in some sense it was, but that it also had a soul, some kind of a world soul. Whether Paul was borrowing that as a picture, it is not really that clear. But there is no doubt here that he personifies the creation. And he personifies the creation as looking for something. He says, for the creature, for the expectation of the creature, wait for the manifestation of the sons of God. Now the word manifestation here is a very rich word in the original. It's the word Apocalypse. Apocalypse means the unveiling, the revealing or the unveiling. And, of course, we have that wonderful writing of the Apostle John at the end of the New Testament that was designed to give us hope also. And it's called the Apocalypse or the Revelation. And so Paul presents the very creation itself as being very eager for the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the revealing the unveiling of the sons of God. Particularly the sons of God as they are glorified at the second coming of our glorified Lord Jesus Christ. The creature longing for this. The creature desiring this in a very eager kind of a way. The adjectives and Adverbs that are used here are very, very powerful. This word here that is translated earnest expectation comes from a verb that means to watch with the head erect. Apo being the preposition, it means to be outstretched, to direct attention. Like for example, earlier this evening when I couldn't hear what the number of Cynthia's Him was, I had to stretch out my head, put my ear out to hear her. And that's what the idea of this, that the creation itself is poised, in a sense, and eagerly is waiting for that moment in time when it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. And even the word here that is translated to wait, is a very emphatical kind of a word. The creature waited for the unveiling, the apocalypse, the revealing of the sons of God. And why does it do so in verse 20? There's a reason it does. It says, for the creature was made subject to vanity. It was made subject to the vanity and the futility. Utility too. Utility of man. But how was it made that way? It was not made that way willingly. It's a very heavy responsibility that we have to bear as human beings. When we come to terms with the reality that we brought all of the material universe into decay and suffering and death. And it shouldn't be something that just affects us psychologically, not just a psychological kind of a guilt, but a true moral Holy Spirit self-guilt. I'm responsible, brothers and sisters. You're responsible. We brought death. We brought sorrow. We brought disorder into the universe. And the universe was subject to vanity, not willingly. It says, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. You see, these were God's laws. These were God's laws, and these were God's principles that God had put into play and put into effect. And He had given us great warning in the Garden of Eden. In the day that you shall eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall die. He gave lots of warning. But being deceived by the serpent, willingly led astray and desiring to transcend the boundaries which God had put in place for us, we brought the universe into death and decay and sorrow and suffering. And Paul says, you know what, you're suffering, You're suffering as Christians. You're being persecuted by the Romans. You're being taken to the Colosseum and fed to the lions. And you're suffering, but you're not suffering in vain. You're not suffering in vain, because you are the joint heirs of God through Jesus Christ. And like as He suffered, You suffer, but like as he was glorified and raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of God, so you also, when you seal your faith and trust in God, and in the redemptive work of Christ, through your martyrdom, and seal it with your blood, so you also shall be raised in glory." And Paul says, this glory is something that I have not seen and heard, hath not heard." It's a wonderful glory that in many ways goes beyond human understanding. And Paul says, you know what? Even the very creation itself looks forward to it. Because the creation was subject to vanity. Not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. You see, there's a hope. There is a hope, friends, as we look around, as we experience the blight and the chill of the curse that we have brought upon the creation. There is a hope, and our hope is the glorification at the manifestation of the sons of God. When our Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, bringing vengeance upon those who oppose him, there is a hope. And there is a hope even for the creation. Because the very creation itself was made to be inhabited. Paul describes us in 2 Corinthians as new creatures in Christ. We are a new creation. And as new creatures in a new creation, we need a creation to live in and inhabit and abide upon. And so for some people who hold eschatological views that would suggest that the resurrection has already taken place, that we're already living in the new heavens and the earth, and there are people that do hold that view. They're called preterists. Where is their hope? Where is their hope? Are we living in the new heavens and the new earth now? I mean, come on. There is still death. There is still suffering. There is still decay. There is still sorrow. And the thing that probably plagues us all as the people of God is we have this nasty thing called sin that still bothers us and still harasses us and abuses us. And what is our hope? Our hope is to be delivered, the full deliverance from that. And Paul says, even the very creation itself is looking forward to it. And you know why the creation is looking forward to it? Because the creation is going to be set free from being used and abused by those who sinfully do not look after it properly. The very creation itself is going to enjoy that. Because the creature itself shall also be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Verse 27 Paul says, For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. These are words that are suggestive of a woman who is experiencing labor pains. This is how Paul is describing the creation here. Like a woman in labor pains, longing to be delivered from the bondage of corruption. And if the creation itself longs that much, and is looking forward to, with earned expectation, the time when it shall be delivered from the abuse of humanity. How much more should you and I, verse 23, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our bodies. So what is Paul pointing believers to here? He's pointing them to what? To the resurrection of the body. He's pointing them to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says that should be your hope. And even the creation itself is looking forward to this. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, Why does he yet hope for? What do we hope for if we already have something? And perhaps here Paul even has in mind those who would believe that the resurrection has already taken place. We read in Timothy of two individuals named 1st Timothy chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 Paul says, But shun vain profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. For their word will eat as doth a canker of whom is Himanias and Philetas, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already. and overthrow the faith of some." So perhaps here, when Paul is using this verse here about hope, that he also has these kinds of ideas in mind as well. The idea that the resurrection has already taken place. And what does Paul say? Paul says, if you believe that, and people are propagating these views, these are views that rob people of their hope. These are just not light errors. These are very serious theological errors. Paul said in 2 Timothy what? He said that these two men had actually overthrown the faith of some. Because what is our hope, brethren? Is our hope to live in a fallen world, even as the redeemed people of God? Is our hope to live in a fallen world where we still experience pain and sorrow and decay. Even though we can claim that yes, spiritually we are raised up with Christ and we are seated at the right hand of God with Christ. And the new life has begun in us. And we are new creatures in Christ. We are a new creation. Yes. But God has called us and God has renewed us and saved us for something much better and greater than this present world system in which we find ourselves. He has promised us full deliverance from sin and death. And we haven't yet experienced it. It's guaranteed It's guaranteed, it's begun, and it's guaranteed. It's guaranteed because Jesus rose from the dead. But as Jesus rose from the dead, when our Lord Jesus Christ returns the second time, if we are dead and in the grave, we shall also be raised in a way similar to what He was. And if we are alive and remain when He comes, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 says what? That our bodies are going to be transformed in the twinkling of an eye into a glorified body like he has. And that this is our hope. And so this should be our hope. This should be our earnest expectation this evening. At this moment in time. This should be our earnest expectation when we leave this place this evening, and when we go out into the working world, and are confronted by the forces of Antichrist, and the world, the flesh, and the devil, this should be our hope. The hope of full deliverance. And so, Paul wanted to encourage these Roman Christians by reminding them of this. We are saved by hope. And what is our hope? Our hope is the resurrection from the dead. Our hope is that just like Jesus was raised from the dead and glorified, we shall also be glorified with Him in His second coming. And God just hasn't left us down here to struggle with these things. He's given us the promise of His Spirit. Verse 26, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself make an intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he make an intercession for the saints according to the will of God." We sometimes may feel like we're all alone and we're facing life here in the dark. But God is with us. The promise is that if you don't have the Holy Spirit, you're not a Christian. In order to be a Christian, you have to have the Holy Spirit. And if we have the Holy Spirit, He has brought us into union with our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Spirit also helps our infirmities. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our temptations. He's there for us and we need to look to Him and look to the hope that He has promised. So don't despair as you face the trials of this week and the trials that will be around the corner maybe some other time. But look to the promise of the full deliverance from the trials of this life at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you for the privilege and the gift of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for our adoption into the family of God. And Lord, we thank you for the glorification that you have promised us, that we would be joint heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet Lord, it's so difficult for us at times to face the other part of that, that we are joint heirs and as joint heirs we shall also suffer. because we have been called not only to believe in Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for Him. And we just pray that You would empower us to face the difficulties of life this week, Lord. We pray that You would help us to think often of the hope and the promise of the Second Coming. And we pray that You would lead us to passages in Your Word this week, and would encourage us as we think about the earnest expectation. And Lord, we pray that that earnest expectation of the creation, we pray that that would be our earnest expectation. And we know that only Your Holy Spirit can produce it in us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's close our service this evening by singing hymn number 580. with fries to sing.