For the scripture reading this morning, we turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verses 12 through 27. We also, because this is a catechism sermon, we'll be looking at Lord's Day 19 again. We've had two sermons so far on Lord's Day 19 this time around. In our first sermon, we looked at Jesus coming as a thief in the night. And in the second sermon, we looked at the final public judgment. And now for this third sermon, we want to concentrate on the hope that creation has for Jesus' second coming. So as we read, we're going to, especially in the preaching, focus on verses 19 through 22. We will be delving into that language from verses 19 through 22, so it will be profitable to keep our Bibles open to this portion of God's Word through the preaching this morning. Romans chapter 8, starting at verse 12. 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, that is to say, 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 shall 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, grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, namely, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 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... I wanted to end there, but I can read one more. 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. So far, we read God's holy and infallible Word. It's on the basis of this passage of Scripture and on the basis of many passages that we have the instruction of Lord's Day 19 of the Heidelberg Catechism found on page 11 in the back of the Psalter. And again, this morning, we will read just question and answer 52, the last question and answer of Lord's Day 19. What comfort is it to thee that Christ shall come again to judge the quick and the dead? that in all my sorrows and persecutions with uplifted head I look for the very same person who before offered himself for my sake to the tribunal of God and has removed all curse from me to come as judge from heaven who shall cast all his and my enemies into everlasting condemnation but shall translate me with all his chosen ones to himself into heavenly joys and glory." Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans chapter 8 is all about hope. It's all about hope for the child of God, for the children of God, and it's all about hope for the children of God in the midst of great suffering. That's what Romans 8 is focused on. Hope for the children of God in the midst of great suffering and sorrow. And you see that even just in the verses that flank The passage that we really want to focus on this morning, verses 19 through 22, you see it in verse 17. 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. We have hope. We have hope of being glorified together with Jesus, despite the sufferings, despite the sorrows and the persecutions. We have hope of being glorified with Jesus and having our body being made even like unto His glorious body. That's verse 17. Then verses 23 and 24, verse 23, and not only they, not only creation and all the creatures, 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 body. That is, the resurrection. of the body. That's what verse 23 is talking about. We are groaning within ourselves. We are groaning in the midst of our sorrows and in the midst of the death that surrounds us. We are groaning, waiting for the resurrection of the body. Verse 24, for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" And so that's really the point that the apostle has in mind. Keep hoping. You haven't seen it yet. You have to keep hoping. Be patient. Keep persevering through your sufferings, right? He says at the end of the chapter, we all are as sheep being led to the slaughter. We're all dying. We're all suffering. We are saved by hope. We have to exercise hope, living by faith. That's what the Apostle has in mind in this passage. Well, in the verses that lie between verse 17 and verse 23, what the Apostle does to encourage God's people in their hope is very striking. Because what the Apostle does in verses 19 through 22 is write that not only do we have hope, but the whole creation itself. has hope as well. And the creation around us is hoping for the exact same thing that we are hoping for. The creation is hoping also for glory. The creation is hoping for Christ's second coming. The creation itself is hoping for the day when it too will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and be brought into the same glorious liberty that we already have a beginning of and that we will be brought into fully in the resurrection of the dead. And so the point is, be encouraged. You're not the only ones who have to be patient. You're not the only ones who are groaning and who are suffering and who are living by hope, but all creation is with you. All creation is groaning with you, waiting for the very same thing. And just as the creation itself is steadfast in its hope, ever persevering in its hope. Every day the sun is rising again and creation is persevering in its hope. So you too, you too need to persevere in hope for we are saved by hope. Well, what we want to do in the sermon this morning is take in this amazing reality and just appreciate it. I, for myself, I think this is one of the most amazing realities there is. I personally find it very faith-building and faith-affirming to recognize what Scripture has to say about creation itself and the hope that creation has and the future that is in store for the creation itself. And this is how the Apostle, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, views and understands the creation around him. This is how the Apostle envisions what is in store for us. also in the final glory at Christ's second coming. There's much to glean from a passage like the one before us. We take as our theme this morning, the hope of creation for Christ's coming. And we look at that theme under three points. First, what this hope is. Second, why the creation has this hope. And then third, how creation expresses this hope. The text says that the brute creation, the creature itself, has hope for Christ's coming. The question is, what does that mean? First of all, what is this creation? Let's look at verses 19 through 22. Verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. The word creature is found there. Verse 20, again, for the creature was made subject to vanity. Verse 21, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. And verse 22, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. So four times, in four different verses, You have that word, creature or creation, and it's the same word. The King James translates it with two different words, creature and creation, but it's the same word in the original. What I did in my Bible is I wrote creation. Verse 19, verse 20, verse 21, for the earnest expectation of the creation. For the creation was made subject to vanity, verse 21, because the creation itself. That's what it's talking about. In all four instances, It's referring to the same thing, the brute creation. The creation that God made in the beginning on the first five and a half days of the creation week. It's referring to the earth. It's referring to the sun, the moon, and the stars. It's referring to the physical universe. It's referring to everything that exists in this creation minus those who make up the human race and minus the angels. So it's referring to the land. The dirt, it's referring to the seas and the oceans. It's referring to the waterfalls and the rivers. It's referring to the mountains and the hills and the trees and the flowers and the particular animals that make up the creation. The dogs and the cats, the lions and the bears, the creation. Or we might say, all that Adam was made king of when he was made king of creation, all the creation Now, to be explicit, the reference here does not include the world of men or the world of angels. And that's clear because, first of all, in verse 23, it says it makes that distinction, and not only they but ourselves also. So, it doesn't include the children of God in verses 19 through 22 because that's verse 23. We also groan. Creation groans, the brute creation, and we with it groan. So clearly we're not included in verses 19 through 22. And then second, the wicked reprobate are not included in these verses either because we know that they're not looking forward to the manifestation of the sons of God. So the passage is referring to the brute creation, the physical earth, this physical universe with all that makes it up. And what the passage is saying is that this creation, the physical creation, has hope. That's clear from the language at the beginning of verse 19, for the earnest expectation. That language, earnest expectation, really has this idea. It's very picturesque language, has the idea of straining out your neck, sticking out your neck so that you can look ahead a little further. It has the idea of having an eager eye and an attentive ear, having a great expectation. The creation is looking forward to something, even waiting for something with eager expectation. We could perhaps reword verse 19 like this. For the creation waits with eager expectation and longing and excitement for the manifestation, for the revelation, for the appearing of the sons of God. The point is the creation has hope, that's what hope is. Verse 22 also speaks about this, for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain. And that groaning and travailing in pain is not just the groaning of suffering, but it's the groaning with hope. Just as a mother in labor is travailing in labor not only has sorrow, but also has hope. She has hope for a good outcome. She has a hope of new life entering into her arms and receiving a child. That's the same kind of hope, the same kind of travail that the creation has. And this is what hope is. Hope is a longing, an expectation for good that is to come in the future. Hope looks to the future. Hope expects to receive something good. And hope is having that strong desire, that hope, that longing for that future good. And the apostle writes, that's what the creation has. The creation has hope. Well, we should ask the question, why? We're still in the first point of the sermon. We're not yet asking, why does creation have this hope or why can creation have this hope? But first we want to ask, why does the creation hope? Why does the creation hope? And the answer is really twofold. First, because right now the creation is in misery. Right now the creation is in misery. And second, because in the future the creation will be delivered from this misery. The creation is in misery right now, and the creation knows that one day it will be delivered from this misery. It's really the same hope that we have. Right now we are in misery. We are in a valley of tears. And we know that in the future we will be fully delivered from this misery. And that's why we too have hope. Right now the creation is in misery. That's expressed in the passage. in verse 20 and also verse 21. Verse 20, for the creation was made subject to vanity. The creation was made subject to vanity. And then verse 21, because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. And that means that right now the creation is under the bondage of corruption. So the creation is in misery. First of all, verse 20, the creation was made subject to vanity. What does that mean? Well, the word vanity means futility. The word vanity means emptiness. Vanity means something like this. You're running on a treadmill and you're not getting anywhere. All your work is pointless. You never reach a worthwhile end. You never meet a worthwhile goal. And that's how it is with the creation. It is subject to vanity. And what that means is that this present creation, with all its work, with all its energy, with all its resources, the creation never really accomplishes anything. Or, to be more specific and more clear, the creation never actually accomplishes the goal that God gave creation in the beginning. By being the peaceful, beautiful home for a humanity that is serving and worshiping the one true God. Creation doesn't experience that. Creation was created to be that, to be a home for a people who's serving and walking with God and talking with God. to be the home of a people who's taking this creation and all its energy and resources and pressing them into the service of the glory of God. But the creation doesn't experience that. For the vast majority, creation doesn't experience that because the creation is made subject to vanity. And that's because the human race, fallen in sin, doesn't use creation aright. But the human race, left to itself, takes this creation and pushes it into the service of sin so that creation doesn't serve the purpose it was originally created for. Creation was made subject to vanity so that apart from God's grace in Jesus Christ, creation's energies and creation's resources are all wasted in the service of sin. So that creation experiences the same kind of reality that the preacher speaks of in the book of Ecclesiastes, vanity of vanities. All is vanity. Creation was made subject to vanity. And in verse 21, we understand what this vanity is a little bit better when verse 21 says, because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. And again, that means that right now the creation is under bondage to corruption. And corruption is decay. Corruption is being destroyed. Corruption is when things perish and die and become subject to all the effects of death. And the creation, the creature is in bondage to that, to that corruption. That means that the creation is enslaved to death. Creation is enslaved to decay so that everything is decaying. Everything is breaking down. The whole earth is wearing out. It's like the second law of thermodynamics, right? There's always that net loss of usable energy. Things don't build up, things break down. The sun is burning up. The Earth's resources are wearing out more and more. The oceans are depleted of their resources. Animals are born and inevitably die again, and it's perishing. The creation is in bondage to corruption. And to put it very succinctly, what that means is creation is under the power of death. Creation is under the curse of death. So that right now, the creation is in misery, and we see it all around. And we could ask, why is this creation under the curse of death? We'll touch on that more in a moment, but let me just say it's because of man's fall into sin. Because of Adam's rebellion as the king of this creation. When Adam fell into sin, when he rebelled against God, the curse of God not only came upon Adam, but it came upon the creation. And creation became enslaved to the power of death. And all of that is captured right here in Romans 8 in verse 20. Verse 20, for the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly. but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope." Now, what that is saying is this. First of all, it's saying that the creation itself did not choose to be put under this bondage of corruption. Creation itself did not of its own choice or will choose to be put under the power of death. But the situation was this, when Adam, as the king of creation, chose to rebel against God, Then not only did Adam himself fall under the curse of God, but the creation as well. So the creation groans as it experiences with the human race the effect of Adam's fall into sin. So the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly. Not willingly. But what verse 20 also says is this. The creation was made subject to vanity, not by Adam, but by him who subjected the same in hope. And the one who subjected creation to vanity in hope was not Adam. Adam subjected creation to vanity in his sin without any hope. Adam subjected the creation to vanity by his rebelling against God. So the reference here is not to Adam in verse 20, but the reference is to God. God is the one who subjected the creation to vanity. He is the one who spoke his word of curse upon the creation. In the beginning, there was no corruption. That's also what's implied here. God originally made things good so that there was no sin or death, but when Adam sinned, then God's curse came upon Adam, and death entered the world, and God subjected the creation to vanity. But what the passage is also saying is that when God did that, even at the very beginning, God did so with His eye on Jesus. God did so in hope. As verse 20 says, God is the one who subjected the creation to vanity in hope, with an eye on the future glory, even the greater glory that would come to creation through Jesus Christ. That's what verse 20 means. And so we can say, while the creation is now subject to vanity, and while the creation is now... under the bondage of corruption, nevertheless, the creation has hope. Because the creation knows. We can use that language, just as the creation hopes. So the creation hopes because it knows that one day it will be delivered from this bondage. It will be delivered from this misery. The curse of God will be lifted. The creation will be set free to fulfill the purpose it was originally given. To be that safe. To be that home. for a humanity that is serving the Lord and worshiping the Lord. Creation will, it has the hope that one day it will serve the purpose of glorifying its creator by serving as the home of an elect, redeemed humanity gathered from all nations. And that will be freedom for the creation. The creation won't be pressed into the service of wickedness anymore. The creation won't be used by wicked men to accomplish their wicked goals, exploited by wicked men, but the creation will be used by a glorified human race who are using this creation for the glory of God and the glory of Jesus Christ. And that is creation's hope. That's expressed in the passage in a few different ways. First of all, verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." And what that means is that the creation is waiting for the day when the sons of God, the children of God, will be shown to be what they are and to be what God has made them to be in Jesus Christ. You see, right now, as we live and walk on the earth, you can't see visibly. who the sons and daughters of God are, I mean, at first sight. You know them by their works, but you can't just look at them and see them for who they are. Right now, we're not glorified in our physical bodies. We're not made like unto Jesus in his body, but the day is coming. The day is coming when those who die in the Lord will be risen and they will be with Christ and they will be changed so that they are glorified. And the day then is coming when people will be able to see in the flesh who we are as the children of God. We will be shown, manifested to be the sons and daughters of God, and creation is waiting for that day. That's the hope creation has, that day of Jesus' second coming. But not only is creation waiting for that day, but as verse 21 also implies, creation itself will share in that very same glory. Verse 21, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. the creation itself will be brought into the same glory, the same freedom that we will experience when our bodies are raised from the dead and we are glorified and made like unto Jesus. It means that verse 21 is saying that just as we will be entirely perfectly set free from all the influences of sin, just so the creation, the brute creation will experience the same thing. Just as we will be glorified in body and soul, set free to live unto God in perfect holiness and devotion, so the creation will experience that same freedom. It will be glorified through and through. Heaven and earth will be united together in one. And creation itself will be set free to serve the purpose of glorifying God by being the home of God's redeemed people. And to be explicit, we need to say that when that day arrives, the day of Jesus' second coming, and He changes everything and glorifies everything, the liberty and the glory and the life that this creation will experience is going to be better than what the creation experienced before Adam fell into sin. God will not merely restore this brute creation to the glorious condition it had. when it was originally spoken into existence, but God in Jesus Christ is going to raise this present creation to a higher level, and as other passages imply or teach explicitly, the heavenly realm and this physical universe will be united in one, and then the creation will experience a glory that is perfectly suited to be home for God's people who are perfectly glorified. And then creation itself will be perfectly suited for Christ in His glory to live there in that world to come with His people. That's the hope that this present creation has. Isn't that an amazing teaching of Scripture? Does that not change how we even look at the creation around us? After we die, beloved, we're going to see this present creation again. Just as when we die, we can say, we're going to see that brother in Christ again. We're going to see that sister in Christ again. So we can say, we're going to see this present world again. On that final day of judgment, when Jesus comes again, he's going to change all of us, and he's going to change this present creation and glorify it. And then all of us, as the elect of God, will have this present creation as our home. I think that adds to our hope and that adds to our excitement about the future. God is not going to throw this present creation away. God never throws anything away. God never has a plan B, right? God has a purpose and a design for everything. And with this creation, God's going to renew it. As other passages in the Bible teach, this present creation is going to burn with a mighty purifying fire. The world will be brought to its elements, the basic building stuff of the creation, and then out of those elements, out of the ashes, you might say, of this present creation, God is going to resurrect the creation. Same creation, But He's going to resurrect it as a most glorious creation, clothed upon with righteousness. With the righteousness, the glory, and the holiness of Jesus Christ. That's what the passage is teaching us. That's what the hope of creation is. Well, a question we can then ask is why? And now the question is, not just why does creation hope, but why does it have this hope? Why can creation hope? Why does it look with eager expectation and with stretched out neck to the future? And the answer is, because the grace of God. Because of the grace that God has shown to this creation in Jesus Christ. Now that might sound a little strange to our ears, maybe, but that's exactly how it is. Creation has hope for the exact same reason that you and I have hope, because Jesus died for this creation, because of the grace of God that is shown to this creation in Jesus Christ. The creation has hope of a bright future, not because of creation itself. Not because creation has any inherent power in itself to save itself or deliver itself. The creation doesn't have hope because of that. The creation doesn't have hope of a bright future, either because what man might do. Man can't save this present creation, despite what environmentalists might promote. But our hope is not in what man can do. Man can't deliver himself from death and from vanity and corruption, and man certainly can't deliver the earthly creation from death and corruption and vanity. On the contrary, man in his sin only ever increases the creation's misery and sorrow. I'm gonna speak personally, to speak as a man, I sometimes wonder what the creation is actually going to look like when Jesus comes again on the clouds of glory. I guess Scripture speaks of that a little bit when it talks about the signs of Christ coming and there's going to be wars that are devastating the earth, there's going to be pestilence, there's going to be famines and earthquakes and natural catastrophes. And you wonder what the earth, the physical creation is going to look like after all these things happen to it. More and more, maybe, environmental crises that characterize life on this earth as Christ's second coming gets closer and closer. More and more, the bondage of corruption will be experienced by the creation, or the effects of it, at least, I should say. But the point is, man is not going to give hope to creation of a future good. No, creation has this hope of a bright future because of God and God's grace. towards this creation in Jesus Christ. That's what verse 20 is talking about. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope. Yes, God, in his just judgment, cursed the creation, so death entered this creation, but not without hope. Because even when God caused death to enter into creation, God provided for the creation's future deliverance by giving to the creation the same Savior that He gives to you and me, right? The covenant that God established with Noah, that He establishes a relationship with the world through Jesus Christ. The creation has the same Savior that you and I have. And that's something to be appreciated as well. When Jesus died on the cross, Jesus wasn't dying just for an elect human race. But when Jesus died on the cross, Jesus was dying as the second Adam. And as such, Jesus was dying as the second King of creation. And just as the first Adam plunged the creation into death, so the second Adam, as the king of creation, lay down his life for the salvation of that very same creation. That's John 3 verse 16. For God so loved the world, for God so loved the cosmos, He so loved this universe, that He gave His only begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So God gave Jesus for this world to save the universe. And that was God's purpose from even before the foundations of the world. From eternity, God ordained the creation to be destined for this higher glory. From eternity, God ordained the creation to be the liberated, blissful, peaceful home of the last Adam and all those who are in him by faith. This is really set forth in verses 19 and 21. Verses 19 and 21, my point here is this, that the creation's future is inextricably, it is inseparably connected with the future of God's people. Verse 19, the creation is waiting for our resurrection of the dead. That's what verse 19 says. The creation is waiting for the resurrection of God's people. Verse 21, the creation is going to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The point is, we and creation go together. And that's because Jesus, as the second Adam, is not just head of an elect human race, but he's head of the creation as well. Ultimately, the reason creation has hope for a future is because of Jesus and his redeeming work. And really, to all eternity then, not only will we be singing God's praises, not only will we be enjoying life with Christ, but all creation with us will be singing Christ's praises and enjoying life with Christ, its head. The hills will be skipping for joy. The trees will be clapping their hands in heavenly glory. to the glory of their Maker and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. And the glory of Christ will pervade every fiber of creation, and Christ will indeed be all in all. And to add to everything, maybe to help us understand why this all needs to be this way, let me add this. You and I need a home, beloved, in glory. In the life to come, we need a place to live. And just as God created the universe in the beginning to be our suitable home fit for us, so God as our Father in His unspeakable love for His children will also take this present creation and He will renew it and He will glorify it so that it is perfectly suited to be our home in the life to come. Heaven and earth united in one and the glory of Christ will pervade everything. And in glory, we will have a perfect home suitable for us and Christ forever. That's what we're hoping for. This is all part of our hope. And the creation looks forward to it as well, all because of Jesus Christ. That's always the end, isn't it? The glory of God in Christ. Well, the question we should ask is this. This is the last question. How do we know that creation has this hope? How do we know that the creation is looking forward to Christ's coming? And the answer is given in verse 22. And what the apostle does there by the Holy Spirit, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is this. He says, don't you hear it? Don't you hear the groanings of the creation? Don't you hear the sighs? and the groans of the creation around you, that's the creation expressing its hope of Christ's second coming. And the apostle writes, we know this. We know this. Just look at the world around you. Look at the suffering that this present creation is experiencing. The creation groans under the burden of death. Animals hunting and killing each other because they need food, otherwise they die. Everything experiencing the reality of death. Look at the earthquakes, look at the volcanoes, look at the hurricanes, the natural catastrophes. That's the groaning of creation. Not just the groaning of misery, it is the groaning of misery. Because the creation knows this is not how it's supposed to be. Death is unnatural. Havoc and chaos and destruction of life, that's not natural. If creation hopes, we could say in a certain sense, creation knows what it was like in the beginning when everything was perfect without death. And creation groans because it knows that its resources, much of its resources are being used in the service of sin. Creation knows that its resources should be pressed into the service of God's glory. That's what you and I are busy with day by day. Creation knows that's what's right. But so much of creation isn't being treated this way, so creation groans. And the creation groans because the creation is in bondage, it can't deliver itself. But the creation also groans because it has hope, right? It groans and travails as a woman in labor. We've already experienced that. That language means hope. There's a good end in sight. There's a coming good. New life is in sight. Creation knows the gospel, knows the good news that in Jesus Christ it will be renewed and glorified, and so creation groans. And now, why does the apostle put it that way? Right? Young people, I think this is a good question. Why does the apostle write these things? What's even the point of saying all of this? Well, the point is this. You and I are groaning also, aren't we? Verse 23, the very next verse. Not only they, but we also groan. It's the same word, it's the same activity. We are groaning day by day. We groan in the sufferings of our present life as well. Living a life that is nothing but a continual death. We groan in the sorrows that we've experienced this past week. Another sign of the reality of death that pervades this world. We've grown under the realities of persecution. We've grown every day as daily we wake up and we have to put the old man to death, and we have to put off the body of this death. And we're looking forward to that. We've grown as we wait for that day, to use the language that Paul uses in Romans chapter 7, when we will be able to put off the body of this death and enter into the full liberty that is ours in Jesus Christ. And as we groan, beloved, we need hope. You need hope. You need to keep looking ahead. You need to remember in the midst of your sorrows, the reality that Christ is on the throne, that there is a future of glory in store for you. And the apostle writes, he says, to help you keep hoping, to help you in your struggle, let me direct you to the physical world. Because you're not alone. You're not alone in your groaning and you're not alone in your hope. The creation itself is going through the exact same thing. The creation itself is looking forward to that day of glory. And he makes it personal. He says, the world around you, the creation is not just looking ahead to what is in store for it, but the creation is looking ahead for what is in store for you. It is looking forward to the manifestation of the sons of God. And so the point is, if the creation itself knows the hope you have, and the creation itself is waiting for the realization of that hope that you have, then how much more should not your hope be? How much stronger should not our hope be? That's the point. So just as creation is faithful, you might say, and diligent in hoping, so we too should have that eager expectation, that craning of the neck. Because as the Catechism says, we're looking for the very same person to come again on the clouds of glory, the very same person who already came the first time and suffered and died for me and for all my sins on the cross of Calvary. He's the one who died for the sins of all his people. He's the one who died for this creation. And I'm looking for Him to come again, not to condemn, but to translate us and to translate this creation into, what's the word? Heavenly joys and glory. So don't be distracted with the things here below. Don't be discouraged by the sufferings you experience. Keep on hoping. Learn from creation. Follow the example of the creation itself. Beloved, let this impact us as we go forward through another week. We're gonna exit the church building. It's gonna be a glorious day. It is a glorious day. Maybe you take it all in. Maybe you go for a walk through the woods. Maybe you turn on the TV and you see another catastrophe, another hurricane striking the earth. Let it all speak to you. Let it all speak to you of the hope. that is yours in Jesus Christ. Groans of misery they are indeed, but groans of hope also. Let that prod you in your own hope. Let that keep you looking forward. Life is hard. There are plenty of sorrows. There are plenty of sorrows, but there is hope. All things are leading to Jesus' second coming, and you're not alone in your hope either. Creation is hoping too. Jesus' second coming is sure. The day is coming, and the day is coming quickly. Be encouraged. Keep living by hope because we are saved by hope. Come, Lord Jesus. Yea, come quickly. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, minister to us these truths, write them on the tablet of our hearts, so that as we groan in the midst of our groanings, we might know we don't weep as those who have no hope, but we weep as those who have hope. And the groans themselves are groans for Christ to come quickly. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thy promises are sure, Thank you for the encouragement of creation itself as a witness of that hope that is ours. Bless this preaching to our hearts and to our lives. Preserve us until Jesus comes again. To thee be the glory, Lord, for thou art a great and glorious God and a merciful Savior. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.