Romans 8:18-2718For I reckon 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 creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And 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. 24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26Likewise 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. 27And 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. (Romans 8:18‑27)
The way in which the expected glory utterly outweighed the sufferings in the mind of the Apostle is comforting and instructive to notice. This is not because he did not suffer, nor that sufferings are pleasant, but suffering is soon over! “I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” It is not merely that he knows he will then get rest and glory, but it is the sense of the glory he has now in comparison with his sufferings. He is like a person who is so filled with the bright hopes of tomorrow that he is getting through today as fast as he can.
The Glory Revealed in Us
“The glory which shall be revealed in us” is our glory and yet God’s glory. God counts it fair that, if we are in sufferings, we should be in the glory too. “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” If our part is suffering, it is also so in respect of the glory to be revealed. By the power of the Holy Spirit there is the sense that the glory is really our own. If a man has the sense of its being his, he will be getting towards it as fast as possible. If his heart is in that state, filled with the Holy Spirit, he will pass on through the world as an angel would pass through it. This is a “present evil world,” so he does not linger, but is in haste to get through.
Affliction and Glory
“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17). For one whose mind realizes eternity, there is no room for anything else about this present evil world. We never realize eternity, until we fill it with the Father’s love and Christ’s glory. If we think of eternity otherwise, we only look into a mere vacuum. We are confounded on the one hand, and filled with glory on the other. Finding ourselves in the glory of God, we hardly know how to grasp it — “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” The glory is a blessed thing that it is ours, so that we can appreciate it in that way.
“The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” This is not to become proud with the “glory which shall be revealed in us”; it is not a change of time, but the glory is present to his mind, and he realizes the glory. “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time” —the present sufferings had lost their hindering power, because he saw the power of God in them and endured afflictions according to the power of God. The great thing is to get the heart into conscious association with all that fair scene. And if we have our hearts always occupied with Christ and glory, we too shall be always there.
The Hope of Glory
Amazingly, the soul becomes soft when happy in the Lord! All roughness is removed. Saints cannot quarrel about being happy in the Lord, though they may quarrel about doctrine or discipline. We ought all to look onward and have the heart filled with the glory. The effect of this is to put suffering in a place as unworthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. It is not the divine essential glory, of course, but the manifested glory. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. God has children, and He must display His sons in His glory. When He transfigures them, He manifests them. Then, and not till then, the creature is introduced into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God. The creation is not intelligent about the liberty of glory. They must also wait, for they will not be brought back until man has been. When man fell, all creation was involved. All the misery of the creature, whether sickness, bodily suffering, and so forth, came by man, so all the deliverance comes by man. By and by there will be a blessing on the fruit of the ground and not a curse.
Meanwhile the Christian suffers. But see how the energizing power of the Holy Spirit fills him with this “earnest expectation.” He so sees the love of God and the thought of God in the thing that is coming that his neck is stretched out, as it were, looking for it. God is a faithful Creator, and so He will bless accordingly.
The Holy Spirit Helps
The Holy Spirit inspires the whole creation with hope, so that all are looking out for the manifestation of the children of God. That is what they wait for. They groan, but not intelligently. We have the key to the groaning. “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.”
“The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption.” Everything connected with it — sickness, death, suffering. The creature was “made subject to vanity.” He calls it all vanity. Take the flogging of horses to see how fast they can go or how much they can carry: This is “creature” groaning and vanity. Unless God sustained them, how could even the angels bear to witness it all? Look at what is called military prowess. Think of thousands being killed by their fellowmen in a single fray! Man walks in a vain show and toils for death, thus spending all his strength to die! The creature is subject to vanity and cannot get out of it until brought into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. There is more villainy and misery, I suppose, in the civilized world than anywhere else. Evil passions break out and show themselves in various forms. People are kept down by mere power or influence. Men are saying, “Peace, peace,” and all the while trembling with fear, looking for those things that are coming on the earth, for come they must, and God alone knows what will turn up in a short time.
The Hope of Christ Coming
“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together.” How astonishing it is that Christians can go on trying to better the world, with so much Scripture to the contrary! When Christ was here, every outgoing of His heart was stopped; they turned away from Him and rejected Him. Though He had cast out a whole legion of devils out of their land, they could not endure His presence, but “besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.” When He is manifested in glory, then will it be revealed in us. It is the realizing of this glory that fits us to enter into the sorrow of the groaning creation around. The hope of Christ, coming in glory, lifts us above it all.
When I have the Holy Spirit, I may be full of joy and full of hope, but this does not prevent my groaning as a creature. The more I joy, the more I feel this wretched body is an earthen vessel that cannot hold the treasure.
The Redemption of the Body
Christ was “declared to be the Son of God with power . . . by the resurrection from the dead”; so we are declared to be sons and are waiting to be raised up bodily by Christ. We must never confound the groaning here spoken of with the groaning of the soul for its own salvation. This we have already. The redemption of the body also is our hope, for Christ is made unto us, of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Redemption comes last, as in itself comprising all, and not of the soul only. The full result is salvation; I have only the earnest of it now. I must wait patiently for it.
Abraham had not a place to put his foot on, though God had given him the whole land. When hope is settled, you go on quietly today, expecting Him to come. The Holy Spirit has fixed our hearts on this hope, and we are waiting for it. While we groan, the Holy Spirit itself groans, so that though it is a groaning creation, we have His company. If you groan, these groans are according to God and are as divine as your hopes, though in a different way. But as the Son became a man, and, as a man down here, had these feelings, so the Holy Spirit dwells in me, and these groans are precious, because in these groans it is the positive intercession of the Holy Spirit, and “He that searcheth the heart, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,” so that if God searches my heart, He finds the Holy Spirit there.
God’s Empathy
It is wonderful how God Himself empathizes in everything, filling us with His hopes, His sorrows, and affections. If it is God who listens, He hears. How thoroughly He is come in to possess man’s soul! Thus my heart groans, while it is said, “The Spirit Itself maketh intercession.” It is a great comfort to know they are not selfish groans in me, because while I am groaning with all around me it is the Spirit’s groan in us.
Adapted from W. Kelly