Romans ~ Part 21

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As I’ve stressed in my previous post, our journey to comprehend the profound significance of Sha’ul’s Letter to the Romans is not just a study but a crucial cornerstone of our faith.

The Freedom from Death ~ Part 2

Have you ever had a favorite show that ended on a cliffhanger? You feel a mix of frustration and excitement, knowing something great is about to unfold in the next season. Romans 8:18-27 evokes similar feelings; while our current struggles may seem intense and prolonged, the promise of what’s to come is even more incredible! Hold on to hope, like waiting for that next season, because the resolution will be spectacular!

Sufferings Diminish in Hope

¹⁸ I don’t think the sufferings we are going through now are even worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us in the future.

Of what are we heirs? We don’t fully know yet: the glory … will be revealed to us in the future. But we know that to obtain it, we must share in the Messiah’s sufferings, including his death.

¹⁹ The creation waits eagerly for the sons of God to be revealed; ²⁰ for the creation was made subject to frustration—not willingly, but because of the one who subjected it. But it was given a reliable hope ²¹ that it too would be set free from its bondage to decay and would enjoy the freedom accompanying the glory that God’s children will have. ²² We know that until now, the whole creation has been groaning as with the pains of childbirth; ²³ and not only it, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Ruach, groan inwardly as we continue waiting eagerly to be made sons—that is, to have our whole bodies redeemed and set free. ²⁴ It was in this hope that we were saved. But if we see what we hope for, it isn’t hope—after all, who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we continue hoping for something we don’t see, then we still wait eagerly for it, with perseverance.

Our inheritance involves an ecologically ruined world that will one day be restored (Acts 3:21, 1 Corinthians 15:23–28, Hebrews 2:8–11, Revelation 21:1). It was made subject to frustration because of human sin (Genesis 3:16–19)—the intractability of the physical world is not merely a natural law. One day, it will end (for an imaginative fictional portrayal of such a phenomenon, see the final two chapters of C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle in his series, “The Chronicles of Narnia”). Because of this, we have a confident hope, for which we wait eagerly but with patience. This is the larger context of whatever suffering, discouragement, and doubt we experience—a context of hope.

The Ruach Bridges the Gap

²⁶ Similarly, the Ruach helps us in our weakness, for we don’t know how to pray the way we should. But the Ruach himself pleads on our behalf with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ and the one who searches hearts knows exactly what the Ruach is thinking because his pleadings for God’s people accord with God’s will. ^[1]

Should we feel overwhelmed by being trapped in an as-yet unredeemed universe, we have a third assurance (see 14a, 14b–17) provided by the Ruach: he prays properly to our heart’s deepest yearnings, even when consciously we don’t know how to do it.

In our next post, we continue to examine the theme: The Freedom from Death.

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^[1] Romans 8:18–27.