Hope Series Week 4 : Day 1

Hope: Devotional series

Week 4: Romans 8:18-28

Day 1:

Welcome to the first day of week 4 in our devotional series about Hope. This week we will talk about Romans 8:18-28 and today we focus on verses 18-20

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope;

"Back to basics." That’s what people often say when things go wrong. When people aren't doing their best, or there’s confusion and things get difficult, go back to the basics. This can be very good advice, but sometimes our perception of the basics is the real problem. Then the only way forward is to do the hard work of re-thinking the “basics.”

When it comes to our faith, fundamentally it’s all about a Person: Jesus Christ. But sometimes what is said of Christ in the Bible differs from our idea of the basics. Paul starts this section with the phrase “I consider that...”. In other words, “here’s how I think.” And then he writes about the hope of the whole creation, even amidst suffering. When Paul beholds King Jesus, the whole of creation comes into view.

For many of us, this isn’t how we learned to think about the basics of our faith. This week’s passage can then seem very complicated. That’s why many people skip over it. But it actually gives us an opportunity to align our thinking with the fundamentals of our faith.

The basic story in the Bible is about all of creation. God created heaven and earth, things unseen and seen. A wonderful, beautiful, powerful, and yet delicate and fragile reality. God placed humans as His image bearers into this heaven/earth creation with God-given authority. The purpose was to take the Eden project and to fill the whole earth with God’s glory. And when humanity rebelled against God, the whole creation fell into the condition of suffering.

But even in that moment, Paul writes in today’s verses, creation itself had hope. Why? Because creation knows “in its bones” something many Christians need to discover as the basics of our faith: The Creator God never abandons the works of his hands. God doesn’t replace what is broken – He renews.

In Revelation 21 John writes this vision of a renewed heavens and earth. That’s also when God told him to write: “Behold I am making all things new.” Paul most probably died long before John wrote these words, but Paul already lived with that basic mindset. This is the mindset the Spirit wants to help us to live with because, as Paul also writes, we as children of God now represent this hope. That’s why creation is on tiptoe with expectation for God to reveal His sons.

There’s so much more to say about this, but for now let’s think through these basic things: It is right that everything God has created, including families, workplaces, and communities, has an inherent hope. And King Jesus, in His death and resurrection, guarantees this hope will not be put to shame.

And when we work with the Spirit of Christ to bring hope, be it in families, at work, or in communities, this mindset will help us to know our work will never be in vain. We are not like those fixing a car destined to drive off a cliff soon. We already represent the future of a whole creation made new, to a world that is still suffering. That, basically, is our calling as God’s children.

And so, we pray: Heavenly Father, all praise to You for your faithfulness and that we can know a hope that will not be put to shame. Holy Spirit give us insight into these basic things Paul writes about. In Jesus name. Amen