Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000051
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01:12 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:14 Our Father and our God, what a joy it has been for the last 01:21 several sessions to open Your Word, and to study about 01:27 the book of Genesis. 01:28 We've been amazed to see how Your plan is revealed so clearly 01:33 in this first book of the Bible. 01:35 And as we study in our lecture today, Creation's Travail 01:43 and Deliverance, we ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 01:48 Help us to understand that this world is not our home; 01:51 that this world will soon come to an end. 01:54 And then those who are faithful to You, who have received Jesus 01:59 as Savior and Lord, will be able to inhabit that kingdom 02:03 where there will be no more sorrow, no more suffering, 02:07 and no more death. 02:08 I ask that You will give us this strong, and blessed hope 02:12 in our hearts as we study. 02:13 We pray this in the precious name of Your beloved 02:17 Son, Jesus, Amen. 02:20 I'd like to begin our study today by going back to Genesis 1 02:27 where we find the story of creation. 02:30 Now I'm not going to review all the story of creation. 02:36 I'm just going to go to one verse which summarizes 02:40 the conclusion of the creation story. 02:43 It says in Genesis 1:31 that God saw all that He had made, 02:51 and behold, it was very good. 02:58 But as we've studied, God placed a test in the garden of Eden. 03:04 That test was found in a tree, and He expected Adam and Eve 03:09 to live in harmony with the specifications that 03:13 He had laid down. 03:14 Now we know from our study, that Adam and Eve failed the test. 03:21 They ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 03:24 And as a result they sinned, and the consequences of their sin 03:29 were death, and suffering, and sorrow. 03:34 Now I would like us to just reflect upon the law 03:40 of God for a moment. 03:41 The law of God, the ten commandments, 03:47 demands perfection. 03:51 It requires perfect conformity to its specifications. 03:57 Now if perfect conformity is not given to the ten commandments 04:04 then they require the death of the individual 04:09 who transgresses them. 04:11 And, of course, Adam and Eve failed the test. 04:15 They failed to offer a life of perfect obedience to the law, 04:21 and therefore they became subject to death. 04:26 But not only were Adam and Eve impacted by sin, 04:32 we actually find, as the story moves along in the book of 04:37 Genesis, that all of creation, all of nature, was impacted 04:42 by Adam and Eve's sin. 04:46 Not only do we find the death sentence falling upon man, 04:51 but also death came into all of creation in consequence of sin. 04:58 All nature began to decay and to die. 05:03 Now the only way in which creation could be restored 05:08 to the condition that it was in originally, is if man offered 05:14 a perfect life of obedience to the law, because the law says 05:19 obey and live. Adam and Eve, and their descendents, could not 05:24 offer this. And because Adam and Eve, and all of their 05:29 descendents sinned, and they could not offer that perfect 05:33 life, the law pronounced against them the sentence of death. 05:39 The human race needed someone who could offer the law 05:45 a perfect life in place of man, who had sinned, 05:51 and who would suffer the penalty of death in place 05:55 of all of humanity. 05:57 The only person who could do that was the Creator of all. 06:04 You see, only the Creator of all could offer to take the place 06:09 of all. Only He could offer a perfect life in place of the 06:15 imperfect lives of sinners. 06:18 Only He could suffer the death that every single human being 06:25 on planet earth deserves. 06:27 Only the Creator could take the place of His creatures. 06:32 And so He had to come to this world, and He had to live a 06:36 perfect life in place of His creatures, so that He could 06:40 offer this to the demands of the law. 06:42 And He had to come, and after living a perfect life, 06:45 He had to offer His life a sacrifice for all of the sins 06:50 of the human race. 06:51 And in this way the demands of the law would be satisfied, 06:56 and man instead of dying, could live. 07:00 Now I would like us to turn in our Bibles to the book of 07:04 Romans 8:3, 4, Romans 8:3, 4. It says here: 07:21 Notice the law could not justify man, because man lived a 07:25 fleshly existence; a life of sin, in other words. 07:29 The law demanded righteousness. 07:32 Man could not off that righteousness. 07:34 And so the law was weak because of our fleshly nature, 07:39 or our selfish nature. 07:40 So it says, for what the law could not do in that it was 07:44 weak through the flesh,... 07:47 See, what the law could not do, God did. 07:51 And how did He do it? 08:00 Did you notice that it didn't say, in the likeness of 08:05 Adam's sinless flesh? 08:06 It says in the likeness of sinful flesh. 08:11 And now notice,... 08:31 In other words, Jesus came to this world 08:34 to live a perfect life. 08:35 He came to this world to suffer death. 08:39 He came in the likeness of our sinful flesh. 08:44 He came with a sinful nature. 08:46 And the purpose of doing that was to condemn sin in the flesh, 08:51 that He could serve as our righteousness. 08:55 Now do you know what that means? 08:58 It, basically, means that the law demands perfection. 09:02 I can't give it, so when I receive Jesus, Jesus offers the 09:06 perfection that I cannot offer. 09:09 It also means that because I should suffer death, 09:12 the law demands my death, because I'm a sinner. 09:15 Jesus takes my place. 09:17 He died in my place, therefore I don't have to die, 09:20 because He took upon Himself my death. 09:24 But there's more! 09:25 Jesus, by His perfect life, is also able to imbue my life 09:31 with His life, so that I no longer walk according to the 09:34 flesh, but I walk according to the Spirit, as it says here. 09:39 Now I want to jump down to verse 14 of Romans 8, 09:46 and we're going to study the consequences of what Jesus 09:50 did in coming to this world in sinful flesh, to condemn sin, 09:55 and to suffer death, and to live a righteous, perfect life. 09:59 It says there in Romans 8:14: 10:06 Actually, a better translation is, as many as are being led. 10:12 It is a continuous tense. 10:26 Now let's go on to verse 15, because it's linked 10:30 with verse 14. It says there: 10:32 For, because we're the sons of God. 10:51 Now there's several things in verse 15 10:54 that I want to underline. 10:55 It says here that we no longer have the spirit of bondage. 11:02 Basically this is telling us that before we became sons, 11:08 we were what? We were slaves. 11:12 We were bond slaves. 11:14 In other words, we were not Sons of God. 11:17 We were slaves. 11:19 Now as a result of what Jesus did, we can be what? 11:27 adopted into God's family. 11:30 Now let's take a look at this. 11:32 When you're going to adopt a child, does that child have 11:38 to belong, first of all, to another family other than yours? 11:44 Of course! If you're going to adopt a child that child 11:49 previously belonged to a different family. 11:51 And so, if we are going to be adopted as Sons of God, 11:56 or as children of God, must we have belonged to a different 12:01 family before that fact? Obviously, yes. 12:05 And so the question is, what family did we belong to before 12:10 we actually were adopted into the family of God? 12:14 The answer is that before this we were slaves. 12:20 We belonged to the family of the sinful Adam. 12:26 We were doomed to death because of our sinfulness. 12:31 In other words, we belonged to the family of the slaves. 12:36 But then Jesus came along and He offered to take us from the 12:42 family of the slaves, and adopt us as children of 12:46 His very own family, and thus we changed families by adoption. 12:54 By the way, I want you to notice, and this is very 12:57 important; I want you to notice that this verse, verse 15, 13:02 tells us that we are presently Sons of God. 13:07 It doesn't say that some day we will be Sons of God, it says in 13:12 consequence of what Jesus did, we are now the Sons of God, 13:17 and we can address our God as Abba Father. 13:22 Abba is a very tender term. 13:25 Some people think it means Daddy. 13:27 We can address our heavenly Father as Daddy now, 13:31 because we have been adopted into His family. 13:35 We are no longer slaves, born into the family of Adam, 13:39 but we are now free children born into the family of God. 13:45 Notice Romans 7:14. 13:48 Here we find a description of how we were born originally. 13:53 It says: 13:59 By the way, that word carnal is the same word flesh that is 14:03 used in Romans 8. 14:10 In other words, we have sold ourselves as slaves to what? 14:14 to sin. We belong to the family of the first Adam. 14:18 But in consequence of what Jesus did, living a perfect life 14:23 in my place, offering to die, and actually dying in my place, 14:28 He offers these to me, and now as a result, I can be adopted 14:34 into God's family, and leave that old family of slaves 14:40 that I used to belong to. 14:41 Isn't this good news? 14:43 This is wonderful news. 14:45 Now lets go on to Romans 8:16, 17. It says here: 15:00 Notice once again, it doesn't say will be, it says... 15:06 What are we now as a result of what Jesus did? 15:12 Now let me ask you, do slaves inherit anything? 15:16 Slaves don't inherit because they're slaves. 15:20 Who are the ones who inherit? 15:23 children: sons and daughters. 15:27 Now notice what it continues saying. 15:32 Because we're Sons of God, we are children. 15:40 Do we have a right to inherit as children? 15:42 We most certainly do, because we've changed families. 15:45 We're no longer slaves. 15:47 We are sons and daughters of God. 15:49 And so it says, and if children, then heirs. 15:53 Now notice this: heirs of God... 16:00 Actually, who is the one who gives us the inheritance? 16:02 It is God the Father. 16:05 We're heirs of God, and we receive the inheritance 16:09 along with whom? with Jesus. 16:12 In other words, the Father gives the inheritance to Jesus, 16:16 and to us. And we're going to find a little bit later that 16:20 the reason why God the Father gives the inheritance to Jesus, 16:25 and to us, is because Jesus is the Son of God, and when we 16:29 join Jesus, we become brothers and sisters of Jesus, 16:32 and thus Sons and Daughters of God. 16:36 In other words, through Jesus we have the right to inherit 16:39 that which was lost originally. 16:42 But now there's another condition. 16:44 Notice once again verse 17. 16:55 See, there's the condition. 17:07 There's two points of time here. 17:09 Suffer with Him now, that we might be someday what? 17:13 glorified with Him. 17:15 Let me ask you, did Jesus suffer when He was on this earth? 17:19 Did He enter His glory after His victory? Yes, He did. 17:24 Now if we're following in the footsteps of Jesus, 17:27 must we suffer in this life? 17:30 We must follow the same footsteps of Jesus. 17:33 And if we overcome, as Jesus overcame, what is awaiting 17:37 for us? The glory is waiting for us, just like it was waiting for 17:42 Him. And so we have this condition. 17:44 It says, we are Sons of God, we will inherit if, indeed, 17:50 we suffer with Him. 17:52 Then someday we will be glorified with Him. 17:56 Now this theme of suffering and glory appears many times 18:00 in Holy Scripture. 18:02 Notice, for example, Matthew 5: 10, Matthew 5:10. 18:07 Let's examine some verses that speak about this idea 18:12 of suffering now, and having the glorious kingdom then. 18:15 This is one of the beatitudes that Jesus spoke 18:19 on the mount of blessing. It says here: 18:33 Did you catch that? 18:34 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness 18:38 sake, for theirs is what? the kingdom of heaven. 18:41 There you have the idea; suffering now, 18:43 and being heirs of the kingdom. 18:45 Notice 2 Timothy 2:11, 12. 18:49 Folks, when we suffer and go through tribulations, 18:52 we shouldn't grumble and complain. 18:53 We're going over the same ground that Jesus went over. 18:56 We're following in His footsteps. 18:59 You see, there's no crown of glory without a crown of thorns. 19:03 Jesus says, that we need to pick up our cross daily, 19:08 and follow Him. We have to follow in His footsteps. 19:11 And suffering is actually a blessing, because it teaches us 19:15 to depend upon God, as Jesus learned to depend upon God 19:19 in His sufferings. 19:20 It says in 2 Timothy 2:11, 12: 19:39 By the way, that the same word, the patience of the saints, 19:42 in Revelation. 19:49 But then it warns us. 19:58 Notice also Romans 8:18, Romans 8:18. 20:06 Here the apostle Paul says this: 20:14 By the way, was the apostle Paul a great sufferer? 20:17 Ha, you just read the story of his life! 20:22 He suffered from the moment that he received Jesus Christ 20:26 as his Savior and Lord. 20:27 He was shipwrecked. 20:29 They tried to stone him. 20:30 They took him for dead. 20:32 He was constantly suffering, cold, and he was constantly 20:38 having to sleep outdoors. 20:39 You know, he gives this catalog of His sufferings. 20:42 In fact, he had a physical affliction. 20:44 We don't exactly know what it was. 20:45 And he begged the Lord three times to take this affliction 20:49 away from him, and God said, My grace is sufficient for you. 20:53 So the apostle Paul says: 21:06 Do you see the idea, once again? 21:08 The sufferings of the present moment are nothing compared 21:12 to the glory which is coming in the future. 21:15 In fact, in the book, Early Writings, Ellen White had this 21:19 vision where she was transported to heaven. 21:23 And this, you know, she was transported, actually, into the 21:26 future, after Jesus comes. 21:29 And she says that they tried to remember the most trying moments 21:32 that they had while they were on this earth, and they paled into 21:37 insignificance compared to the glory of heaven where they were. 21:42 Now I want you to notice 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18; 21:46 the same idea coming through. It says there: 21:58 You say, what do you mean, Pastor Bohr, a moment? 22:02 I've been suffering for years. 22:06 Let me ask you, what are years in the context of eternity? 22:12 Ha ha, it's but a little moment, right? 22:15 For our light affliction... 22:24 What is working for us? 22:26 Our light affliction, right? 22:35 And then he says: 22:46 That's the present moment. 23:01 So what does the apostle Paul tell us? 23:03 He says, listen folks, don't worry about a little suffering 23:08 now, a little affliction, going through the same experiences 23:11 that Jesus went through. 23:13 He says, this is actually rehearsal. 23:15 This is a practice, and someday it's all going 23:19 to come to an end. 23:20 If you suffer with Jesus, you will reign with Jesus. 23:25 That's a divine promise. 23:27 We can take it to the bank. 23:28 Notice also Colossians 1:27, this same idea. 23:51 Who? When is Christ in you, later or now? Now! 23:55 So if Christ is in you now, what hope do you have? 24:04 You have the hope of glory. 24:07 Now let's go to Romans 8:19. 24:10 We're moving along the book of Romans 8, because it has so many 24:14 beautiful truths, and in a moment we're going to find 24:17 the connection with creation. 24:19 It says there in Romans 8:19: 24:32 What is creation waiting for? 24:33 Creation is waiting for the revealing of the Sons of God. 24:39 What does that mean that creation is waiting for the 24:42 revealing of the Sons of God? 24:44 Well, that little word that is translated revealing here, 24:49 is really the word apocalypse. 24:53 In other words, creation is waiting for the apocalypse 24:58 of the Sons of God. 24:59 You say, what does that mean, the apocalypse 25:02 of the Sons of God? 25:03 It means the moment when the Sons of God, we're going to 25:06 notice in the succeeding context the moment when the Sons of God 25:11 are transformed in their bodies, and they move into 25:16 Christ's glorious kingdom. 25:17 The creation is waiting that moment: 25:20 the unveiling of the Sons of God, the apocalypse of the 25:26 Sons of God, if you please. 25:28 By the way, the expression, earnest expectation, 25:32 really means, in the Greek, to await with the 25:37 head outstretched. 25:39 To await with the head outstretched. 25:42 Now have you ever had the experience that you're waiting 25:46 for someone to come, at an airport, for example, and you're 25:52 standing there on the balcony, and you want to see when they 25:56 come out of the plane. 25:57 And what you do, you stretch out your head to see 26:00 if they're coming. 26:01 You're anxious! It's an earnest expectation. 26:05 That's what this is talking about. 26:06 All creation is stretching out it's head awaiting the moment 26:11 of redemption. In fact, notice Luke 21:28. 26:16 This is a very well known verse. 26:18 This chapter is talking about the signs of the second coming 26:21 of Christ. And it says here: Now when these things begin 26:26 to happen, that is the signs, look up and do what? 26:32 and lift up your heads for your what? for your redemption 26:39 draweth nigh. See, there it is, the earnest expectation, 26:44 sticking the neck out, just waiting for your hope 26:49 to be fulfilled. All of creation is waiting for this moment. 26:54 Now lets go to Romans 8:20. 26:57 This is a powerful verse. 26:59 There's several things that we need to say about it. 27:01 It says there: 27:07 Let me stop there for a moment. 27:09 The creation was. Is this a past moment? Was? Yes. 27:15 In fact in the Greek it is a punctiliar past. 27:19 It happened at a specific moment in the past. 27:23 So notice, For the creation was, at a specific point in the past. 27:29 What happened with it? 27:31 It was what? subjected, notice it was subjected. 27:37 What does that mean, it was subjected? 27:39 It means that somebody else what? somebody else subjected 27:45 creation. It did not subject itself. 27:47 In other words, what happened at creation, was not the fault 27:50 of creation. It was the fault of someone else. 27:53 And so it says, for the creation was at a specific point 27:58 in the past subjected to what? to futility. 28:04 What happened with creation at a certain point in the past? 28:08 It was subjected by someone to what? to futility. 28:12 Now allow me to give you some synonyms of what futility means. 28:17 It means, and these are synonyms that the Greek Lexicon gives; 28:22 the Greek dictionary. 28:24 It means aimlessness, frustration, vanity, 28:34 meaninglessness, emptiness, purposelessness. 28:42 In other words, creation was subjected at a moment past 28:48 by someone to aimlessness, frustration, vanity, 28:53 meaninglessness, emptiness, purposelessness. 28:58 And now what does the verse say? 29:00 What is the next expression? 29:02 Not what? Not willingly. 29:05 Is nature to blame for this? 29:08 Is creation to blame for this? 29:10 No, somebody did something in the punctiliar past that led 29:16 creation to futility, and it was not the will of creation 29:21 that this happened. 29:22 And so it says, not willingly, but because of him 29:28 who subjected it. 29:30 Was there someone who subjected creation to futility? 29:33 Absolutely. But was it really subjected to 29:37 futility without hope? 29:39 No, because the last part of the verse says that it was 29:42 subjected in what? 29:46 It was subjected in hope. 29:49 In other words, the aimlessness, the purposelessness, the vanity 29:54 that is taking place in creation is not going to end 30:00 on a negative note, on a sour note, because it was subjected 30:04 by this person in the past, in hope. 30:08 Now who was this individual who subjected creation to futility, 30:13 or to purposelessness, or to aimlessness, 30:16 or to vanity, or to emptiness? 30:19 It was actually a man called Adam. 30:25 Notice Romans 5:12, Romans 5:12. It says there: 30:51 Let me ask you, how was it that sin entered into the world 30:55 and led creation to futility? 30:58 It was through the sin of what? of one man, and after he sinned, 31:04 all of humanity also what? also sinned. 31:10 Now allow me to read you a very interesting statement that we 31:13 find in our second textbook, Patriarchs and Prophets, 31:16 page 62. This is a real sad statement. 31:21 It makes me sad when I read it, because I can imagine what it 31:25 must have been for Adam. 31:26 You know, he lived in the garden of Eden with Eve. 31:29 Everything was perfect. 31:30 Everything was beautiful. 31:31 There was no suffering. 31:33 There was no death. 31:34 And then suddenly we have this. 31:36 Once again, page 62. 31:38 As they, witnessed in drooping flower, 31:44 and falling leaf the first signs of decay, Adam and his companion 31:53 mourned more deeply than men now mourn over their dead. 31:59 Did you catch that? 32:02 Just, according to this, from the drooping flower, 32:07 and the falling leaf. 32:08 They mourned more than we mourn for our dead, because they lived 32:14 in a perfect world. 32:15 Imagine what it must have been like for Adam to sacrifice 32:18 those first animals for sin. 32:20 It was terrible! 32:22 She continues saying, that death of the frail, delicate flowers 32:28 was indeed a cause of sorrow, but when the goodly trees cast 32:34 off their leaves, the scene brought vividly to mind 32:39 the stern fact that death is the portion of every living thing. 32:45 You see, the sin of Adam and Eve impacted all of creation. 32:52 You know, right before I came to the lecture tonight, 32:55 my wife came to me, actually yesterday morning, 32:57 just to give you a little context. 32:59 Yesterday morning my wife and I, we do yard work, and we were 33:03 outside and, you know, she wanted to rearrange some of the 33:07 branches of a rose bush that runs across the top of a 33:12 kind of a trestle type thing, and when she was moving it 33:16 she noticed that there was a birds nest. 33:19 But it was too late, and so she pushed the nest, and a little, 33:23 little tiny bird, just a little baby bird, fell out of the nest. 33:28 But interestingly enough, he got caught in the rose bush 33:31 by his beak, and he was just hanging there. 33:36 And my wife, you know, called me urgently to come and rescue 33:40 the little bird. And so I got the ladder. 33:43 I came, I took the little bird and I went up the ladder, 33:47 of course, and I looked inside the nest, and there was another 33:50 little bird there. 33:51 And so I put that little bird next to the other one, and they 33:54 were there, and a little bit later on the mother came, 33:57 and we said, well, this is so wonderful. 33:58 And you say, well, this is a wonderful story. 34:01 I wish I could tell you that the story ends this way. 34:04 But right before I came here, my wife said that our cat 34:08 Ghandi, somehow got up there and killed the two little birds. 34:14 Now I don't know about you, but that really makes me suffer. 34:19 Do you know that even God suffers when a bird 34:21 falls out of a tree? 34:22 You know, when I look at this cat that comes out here. 34:26 You've probably seen this cat. 34:27 You know, I have my class on Sabbath morning, and that cat 34:31 comes and wants to be fed. 34:34 I don't know whether it's just that she wants to be fed, 34:37 or she loves me. But anyway, probably a combination 34:40 of both things, because she comes and she lays down, 34:43 and I pet her, you know, I pet her belly. 34:45 She's a real nice cat, real kind cat. 34:48 But when you think that she sleeps outside every night, 34:53 is that the way that God planned it? that she be dirty, 34:57 and starving if somebody doesn't feed her? 35:00 Of course not. And, by the way, if my wife had her way we'd have 35:04 adopted this cat a long time ago. 35:07 We used to have seven. 35:09 Three of them died. 35:10 We still have four. 35:11 And we have a rat, and we have a mouse, and I don't know what 35:15 other kinds of animals we have in the house, 35:17 because my daughter, Jennifer, she was able to keep two of 35:22 those cats we have now, which are adults; 35:24 she was able to keep them under wraps in her bedroom for a whole 35:29 month before I even knew that they were there. 35:32 And one day here comes running out these two little cats. 35:36 I said, Where did these come from? 35:38 And then she told me the story of how she had adopted the two 35:42 kittens. And, of course, we have the two. 35:45 One of them is Ghandi and the other one's name is Alien, 35:49 believe it or not. 35:50 But anyway, it wasn't God's plan that cats kill birds, 35:56 and that animals slaughter one another. 35:59 It was Adam's sin that led all of creation to futility, 36:05 and to suffering, and to sorrow, and to death. 36:09 Now let's go to Romans 8:21, Romans 8:21. It says here: 36:18 Because the creation itself also will be what? 36:25 Not only will human beings, but it says the creation itself 36:31 also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 36:36 glorious liberty of the children of God. 36:38 What happens when the children of God enter into that glorious 36:43 liberty? All of creation will what? 36:46 All of creation will also itself be delivered from bondage. 36:52 Are you looking forward to that day? 36:54 Can you imagine the day when a lamb and a lion 36:58 lie down together? 37:00 Can you imagine when a child, like it says in Isaiah, 37:06 picks up a poisonous snake, and the poisonous snake doesn't 37:10 do anything to the little child? 37:12 That's the way things are going to be once again, 37:15 like they were originally, because when the children of 37:19 God are restored, all of creation will also be restored. 37:24 When Adam sinned all of creation was subjected 37:27 by Adam to futility. 37:30 In Revelation 21:4 we have this wonderful verse about what 37:35 that time will be like. 37:37 The glorious moment when creation will be restored 37:42 and redeemed by Jesus. 37:46 It says there in Revelation 21:4: 37:54 Are you looking forward to that day? 37:56 You know, since I've been in this church there's been a lot 37:59 of tears; a lot of saints that have died in the Lord. 38:02 And at funerals there are a lot of tears, but I tell you what, 38:05 there is hope. For those who have died in Christ 38:09 there is hope, because it says God will wipe away every 38:12 tear from their eyes. 38:23 Isn't that wonderful? 38:25 No more pain pills! 38:26 The pharmacy's will be out of business! 38:29 No more hospital visits, no more HMO's, no more nurses. 38:35 Elaine will be out of work. 38:39 No more medical doctors. 38:43 But there will be Bible teachers, because we'll tell 38:49 the story of redemption in the far away worlds. 38:54 We'll explain what it means to be redeemed. 38:58 And they'll hear it with their ears, and they won't be able to 39:02 fully understand it, because they have not gone through 39:05 the experience. And it says, there shall be no more pain, 39:09 for the former things have passed away. 39:15 And now notice chapter 8 and verse 22: 39:30 What condition is creation in? 39:32 It is groaning and moaning, because it is 39:36 having birth pangs. 39:37 Let me ask you, is childbirth a painful experience 39:41 to those women who have been through it? 39:43 It most certainly is. 39:45 But is the end result worth it? Absolutely! 39:49 Is creation going through pain and agony, and suffering, 39:54 and travail now? It is! 39:56 But someday it will enter the deliverance, 39:59 the glorious deliverance, along with the children of God. 40:03 Incidentally, as we look at the world today, all creation seems 40:09 to be falling apart. 40:10 Everything seems to be subject to death, and to decay. 40:16 Animals kill each other. 40:19 Waterways are polluted. 40:22 The air is poisoned. 40:25 The ozone layer is destroyed. 40:28 Natural disasters proliferate, like the Tsunami; 40:32 incredible pictures! 40:34 You know, I've never seen anything like that. 40:37 It seemed like it was the days of Noah all over again. 40:40 Accidents take place, wars between nations, famines, 40:46 diseases, all nature seems to be moving to disintegration and 40:51 annilation. Nature is groaning and is in travail waiting 40:57 for the moment of the redemption of God's people, 40:59 because when God's people are redeemed, nature and creation 41:03 will be redeemed along with them. 41:06 Notice Romans 8:23, Romans 8:23. 41:12 We apparently have a contradiction here 41:14 with something that we studied before. 41:16 Notice what it says in Romans 8:23: 41:21 Not only creation; not only is creation groaning... 41:45 Now do you see the problem here? 41:47 We already read that we have been adopted as God's children, 41:53 but here it says that we are groaning and awaiting the moment 41:58 of our what? of our adoption, which is the redemption 42:02 of our body. You say, how do you understand that we were adopted, 42:07 and yet we're eagerly groaning and waiting for the moment 42:10 of our adoption, which is the redemption of our body? 42:15 It's actually very simple to explain. 42:16 You see, we have already been legally adopted by Jesus. 42:22 If we receive Jesus as our Savior, and as our Lord, 42:26 His life stands in place of our lives. 42:29 His death stands in place of our death. 42:32 We have the first fruits of the Spirit. 42:35 In other words, we have Jesus. 42:38 We have the guarantee that someday Jesus is going 42:41 to take us home, so the adoption ceremony, 42:45 the legal papers have been signed. 42:47 It's just a matter of Jesus coming to the orphanage 42:51 and taking His children home. 42:53 How about it? So we have been legally adopted. 42:56 We have the first fruits of the Spirit, but we're just awaiting 43:01 the moment when Jesus comes to take His children home. 43:06 Praise the Lord! Allow me to read you some Biblical passages 43:11 about this glorious moment; the redemption of our body. 43:15 You know the Greeks could never buy this idea. 43:17 The redemption of the body? 43:20 Who wants a body to be redeemed? 43:22 They said the soul, that's what really counts. 43:25 Notice what Job had to say. 43:27 Job 19:25-27, Job 19:25-27. Here Job says: 43:39 In the connection with what we just studied; we're waiting for 43:42 the what? for the redemption of our body. Job says: 44:14 Was Job groaning for the moment of the redemption of his body? 44:19 He most certainly was. 44:21 And he says, I know my redeemer lives, and even though my skin 44:26 and my body disintegrates, he says, I know that I will 44:30 very soon, someday, see God. 44:32 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 describes this moment of the 44:38 redemption of our body. 44:39 And when our body is redeemed all nature will be redeemed. 44:43 The apostle Paul says, Now this I say, brethren,... 45:39 You know, that's what God's people are going to sing 45:41 when they come forth from the grave. 45:43 They're actually going to say, Oh death, where is your sting? 45:47 Oh Hades...(or Oh grave), where is your victory? 45:52 One of the texts, which is my absolute favorites in scripture, 45:56 (I have two or three that are really favorites, and this is 45:59 one of them), Philippians 3:20, 21. 46:03 It describes the same moment of the redemption of our body, 46:07 when, actually, Jesus is going to take His children home. 46:11 The children that He legally adopted by what He did when He 46:14 came to this world, by condemning sin in the flesh, 46:16 by suffering our death, by living a perfect life. 46:19 At this moment He's actually going to take His people home. 46:24 It says in Philippians 3:20: 46:30 Where is our citizenship? in heaven. 46:38 What does it say next? 46:42 See, there's the same expression of Romans 8. 47:05 Our body will be transformed into the likeness 47:09 of His glorious body. 47:11 Now here's the question: how can we be sure that this is true? 47:16 How can we be sure that the moment is coming when Jesus 47:21 is going to transform this lowly, corrupted, weak, 47:26 mortal body, into the likeness of His glorious body? 47:29 Is this just some type of wishful thinking? 47:33 The answer is no. 47:37 You see, it says in Romans 8 that God has given us 47:41 the first fruits. Do you know what the first fruits is? 47:46 Go with me to 1 Corinthians 15: 23, 1 Corinthians 15:23. 47:54 God has given us the first fruits, and this guarantees 47:57 that what He has promised is going to take place. 48:00 It says there in 1 Corinthians 15:23: 48:16 Who is the first fruits? 48:17 The first fruits is Jesus. 48:19 Let me ask you, did Jesus go to the grave? He did. 48:23 Did He come forth from the grave glorified? 48:27 Yes, because Jesus lives, we will what? 48:31 we will live also. 48:33 In other words, the resurrection of Jesus as the first fruits, 48:37 is really the security deposit. 48:44 It is the down payment. 48:46 It is the guarantee, if you please, that when He comes, 48:52 we will go through His same experience. 48:54 In other words, what He did in the past determines 48:58 what He will do in the future. 49:00 He's made the down payment. 49:03 He is the first fruits. 49:04 He went to the grave. 49:06 He took the keys. 49:07 He opened the grave from the inside, and He came out 49:10 and said, I am the resurrection and the life, and therefore we 49:14 know that because He lives, we will also live, 49:18 though we die. This is wonderful news. 49:22 Notice Ephesians 1:13, 14, Ephesians 1:13, 14. 49:27 Here we have the idea of the down payment. 49:33 Do you know what the down payment is? 49:34 It's the Holy Spirit. 49:36 How does Jesus abide in us? 49:39 Jesus abides in us through whom? through the Holy Spirit. 49:44 So Christ is the first fruits and He abides in our hearts 49:48 through the Holy Spirit, and this gives us the guarantee 49:51 that He's going to come through. 49:53 By the way, do you think Jesus is going to 49:56 lose His down payment? 49:57 Do you think Jesus is going to lose His security deposit? 50:01 Of course not! If He paid, He's going to take His people home. 50:06 Notice Ephesians 1:13, 14. 50:22 Now this is the key. 50:44 What is the down payment, or the deposit that Jesus has 50:48 placed as a guarantee that someday we will get the lost 50:53 possession? It is according to this, the Holy Spirit. 50:58 Jesus has put down the down payment. 51:02 Notice Romans 8:11, Romans 8:11 bears this same idea. It says: 51:19 Notice, if the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead 51:22 dwells in us. Does that have any implications for us? 51:27 Notice what it continues saying. 51:39 In other words, this text says, if the Spirit that resurrected 51:44 Jesus is in you, that same Spirit, very soon, if you should 51:48 die, will what? will resurrect you from the dead as well. 51:53 And that's the reason why we shouldn't fear death. 51:57 You know some people are so afraid of death. 52:00 Listen, if we're in Christ, we have no reason to fear death. 52:04 And you know, actually, when people die in the Lord, 52:08 you know, sometimes it's a good experience for them, 52:12 because they rest from their labors, according to what 52:16 Revelation 14:13 has to say. 52:19 You know, the way some Christians behave at funerals, 52:22 makes me wonder. 52:23 You know, they cry in Latin America particularly? 52:27 I've seen some Adventists who have come and they've actually 52:30 grabbed onto the casket, and they don't want the casket 52:35 to be buried. And the fact is that the person who died, 52:39 you know, that they died in Jesus. 52:42 And so we don't have to fear, because the time of the 52:45 redemption of our body, the glorious redemption of the 52:47 Sons of God is coming. 52:49 And, by the way, when the glorious day of the resurrection 52:53 comes, then creation will also be restored to it's original 52:59 condition. Let's go to Romans 8: 24, Romans 8:24. 53:06 Here the apostle Paul says this: 53:12 See, we were saved, that's past, in this hope, 53:17 that's future, but now notice: 53:30 In other words, if we were already in heaven, 53:33 would we need hope? 53:35 You know, if we are already in heaven, and I say, Oh, I hope 53:39 I get to heaven someday. 53:40 See, that's ridiculous, because you don't have to hope for 53:44 what you already have. 53:45 You don't have to hope for that which you see, you hope for 53:50 that which you cannot see. 53:51 But I want you to notice that this hope is built upon a solid 53:56 foundation of what Jesus has done, and the fact that He has 54:00 given us His Holy Spirit. 54:03 Notice Romans 8:25, Romans 8:25. 54:09 The apostle Paul continues this idea of hope. He says: 54:16 By the way, that's the future kingdom, 54:18 the redemption of the body. 54:32 Do you know what that word perseverance is? 54:35 It's the Greek word hupomone, which means enduring patience. 54:42 It's the same word that is translated in Revelation 13:9 54:49 and Revelation 14:12, Here is the patience of the saints. 54:56 In other words, it is a perseverance, according to this. 55:00 And so the apostle Paul is saying, If we hope for what we 55:04 do not see, which is the kingdom that is going to come, 55:07 we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 55:11 In other words, we don't give up. 55:13 We hang in there, no matter the trials, and tribulations, 55:16 and sufferings, and difficulties, we hang in there, 55:18 because Jesus has guaranteed it through giving us 55:22 the down payment of His Holy Spirit. 55:25 Finally, let's go to verses 29 and 32, verses 29 and 32. 55:32 It says here: 55:40 See, there's going to be a group of people who are going to be 55:43 conformed to the image of Christ. 55:52 Does Jesus have brothers and sisters? Does He? Yes. 55:58 And I've mentioned this before. 55:59 This is a marvelous thing. 56:00 See, when I get baptized, and I receive Jesus as my Savior, 56:04 I become the brother, or the sister of Jesus. 56:07 Then Jesus comes to His Father and He says, Father, I have a 56:10 new brother. I have a new sister. 56:12 The Father says, Oh, is that right? 56:14 You have a new brother, a new sister? 56:15 Well, if he's your Brother, and You're my Son, 56:19 then he's my Son, too. 56:21 If she's your sister, and You're her brother, than she also 56:28 is my child. That's what Jesus meant when He said, 56:31 I am the way, the truth, and the life. 56:34 No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. 56:37 We become brothers and sisters of Jesus, and through Jesus 56:41 we become Sons and Daughters of God. 56:44 And finally, verse 32: He who did not... 56:55 See, He did it for us all. 56:58 What Jesus did was in our place. 57:10 ...some things. Ah, thank you very much. 57:14 Why, if He gave His own Son, and we're the brothers and 57:19 sisters of Jesus, why will He not give us all things? |
Revised 2014-12-17