Christine Gerhart
12/08/10
Bible Study: Romans 8:22-30
Introduction
It’s been hard to keep up with the news while here at Capernwray. Back home when I was better informed it seemed like every time I watched the news there was sad story after sad story. The same goes for the newspaper. If we think about it wouldn’t you guys also agree that there’s some messed up stuff going on in the world. Even at fellowship on Sunday we can see our world is not as it should be. It’s hard to see the injustice and natural disasters not to mention the stories of greed and corruption
We live in a broken world and most of us can say that we wish for something more. In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
And if this was the end of the story, it would make us want to run and hide but in today’s passage we will see that there is much more. We can have hope that through the power of the Holy Spirit we are being made into Christ’s likeness. Lets open our bibles and read Romans 8:22-30.
Background
The book of Romans is a letter to believers in Rome from the apostle Paul
(v 1:1) around 57 AD. Paul had never been to the church in Rome but he had heard about the believers there and had intended to visit on his way to Spain (1:11–12; 15:23–24). He sent this letter to introduce himself and to make a clear declaration of the faith while in the city of Corinth (Acts 20:2–3). (Zondervan NIV Study Bible)
In Paul’s day, Rome was the center of the world in ever way; law, culture, power and learning. “The original recipients of the letter were the people of the church at Rome (1:7), who were predominantly Gentile. Jews, however, must have constituted a substantial minority of the congregation ( 4:1; chs. 9–11).” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible)
In this letter he starts with an introduction and the need for the gospel message. Next he clearly states the core message of the gospel. And later he goes into how the gospel affects everyday living. “Paul’s primary theme in Romans is the basic gospel, God’s plan of salvation and righteousness for all humankind, Jew and Gentile alike (v 1:16–17)” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible).
Context
In Romans Paul begins with looking at the spiritual condition of all people. Jews and Gentiles both are need of salvation because we are all sinners. In chapter 3 he delivers the gospel message clearly and succinctly. “Since salvation is only the beginning of Christian experience, Paul moves on to show how believers are freed from sin, law and death—a provision made possible by their union with Christ in both death and resurrection and by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit.” (Zondervan NIV Study Bible)
In chapter 8 of Romans Paul talks about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us power to live the Christian life he has introduced in the early chapters. He says in verses 9-17 that we can have freedom from our old selves. He also states that we share in Christ’s sufferings so that we may also share in His glory. This leads us into verses 18-21 that talk about the hope we have during our present sufferings. Even creation has to suffer because of the fall.
Then there is our passage (verses 22-30). It talks about the brokenness of our world and how we have hope in the Holy Spirit that God’s purpose if to make us more like Christ to bring Him glory.
After that, in verses 31-34, Paul talks about God’s power and authority. He states, “If God is for us who can be against us”? Finally at the end of the chapter, Paul closes with God’s love. He writes how incomprehensible the size and depth of God’s love is and reassures his readers that we can’t escape it. After chapter 8 Pauls speaks about Israel and her fate. The in the ending of the letter Paul continues to speak about living out your faith in practical ways.
General Theme
Through the Holy Spirit we are being made more like Christ.
Teaching Point 1: We wait and hope for our coming redemption (v.22-25)
Teaching Explanation:
Our passage today starts with Paul writing about creation groaning as in the pains of childbirth. The very first word in verse 22 is “we”. This is speaking about believers.
Then Pauls says “we know” that all creation has been groaning. He also states that we ourselves groan. The use of the words “childbirth pains” would be well known to his audience because it’s mentioned in Genesis. After the fall, God said to Eve, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with pain you will give birth to children”. (Genesis 3:16) The pain that comes with childbearing, we see, is a direct result of the fall. After the fall and sin entered the world, everything was broken; even creation itself.
We also have an inward groan because of the fall. In the previous verses we learn that everyone endures suffering (v 18). In verse 23 it says, “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.” (TNIV) Some people describe this inward groan as having a hole in us that only God can fill. This is another fact that Paul is stating. He is listing three things that we know; that we suffer, groan and have redemption. The Greek word for redemption is “APOLUTROSIN” meaning a release effected by a payment of ransom and/ or deliverance. Christs’ death on the cross was Him paying the random so that we can be delivered from our inward groaning. Jesus is who fills our God shaped hole by his death. Believers know that our world is not as it is intended to be and that one-day we will receive new bodies and God will create a new heaven and earth (Isaiah 65:17). In 2 Corinthians 5:2&4 it says “Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling…For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.
It is in this that we have hope; redemption. Paul talks about hope that cannot be seen. He is making this point as a way of encouraging the readers. It is hard to hope for things unseen and our natural tendency is to want proof. In Ephesians 2:8 it says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith”. The word hope is used 5 times here. The Greek word for hope is “Elpis” and means a “favorable and confident expectation having to do with the unseen future.” Faith and Hope both deal with the unseen. Like verse 24 states “hope that is seen is not hope at all”. We spend so much time asking God for things but you can’t hope for what you have. The earth won’t be fully restored until Christ comes back so that is why we don’t have it yet and why we wait. Not only are we to hope and wait but Paul says we are to wait patiently.
Word Study:
Groan (NIV)
Greek: stenazomen (s.4727)
- groan, sigh deeply.
Hope (TNIV)
Greek: ELPIS (s.1680)
- Favorable and confident expectation / Has to do with the unseen future / Hope is a factor in salvation.
Wait (TNIV)
Greek: APEKDECHOMAI (s.553)
- To await or expect eagerly and is rendered to wait for in Romans 8:19,23,25
Redemption (NIV)
Greek: APOLUTROSIN (s.629)
- a release effected by payment of ransom, deliverance
We Know (NIV)
Greek: eidó (s.1492)
- be aware, behold, consider, perceive
Scripture References:
Genesis 3:16 / to the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
Ephesians 2:9 / for it is by grace you have been saved, through faith
2 Corinthians 5:2,4 / Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 4For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.
Illustration:
Waiting on the Lord can be hard. Here is an example from the bible where waiting didn’t go so well. It is from 1 Samuel 13:7-13.
7 Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. 9 So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering." 13 "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
You can see in this passage how hard it is to want to take things into our own hands. We tend to focus on what we see instead of what see can’t see. It’s hard to wait patiently but just because it is hard doesn’t give us an excuse. God is clear on this and more importantly God is trustworthy and faithful. Even though we have to wait, it’s worth waiting for.
Discussion Questions:
1. What evidence is there of a groaning for God in people?
People having lots of stuff but still being unsatisfied.
War, corruption, death and selfishness. Natural disasters.
2. How can we fill our God shaped hole with God in practical ways?
Spiritual disciplines. Prayer. Community.
Application:
We all have long lists of things we do everyday. It can be big things or just normal stuff but we have a list nonetheless. Where does God fit in? Now that we can all agree we have a God shaped hole in us that only Christ can fill, how do we not default back to filling it with other things? I encourage you to take time to think about this. Ask yourself what are the things that you groan for that are not God. When you leave Capernwray, how can we keep God the key person we seek? It’s a big questions but an important one.
Teaching Point 2: The Holy Spirit is our prayer partner (v. 26-27)
Teaching Explanation
The next part of the passage starts with the words “in the same way” connecting it back to what we just read about. In the last verses we see we have hope even in our sufferings. And here Paul talks about how we have help in our weaknesses and prayers. The Greek word for weakness used here is “Asheneia” and means “to want of strength and indicating inability to produce results”. It’s not talking about physical weakness but in our spiritual weakness. The Spirit Paul is referring to here is the Holy Spirit which is God sent to live in us. Jesus spoke of the Spirit coming in Acts 1:5 and the apostles were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:4.
Paul next writes how the Spirit intercedes for us in prayer with groaning words cannot express. This is most likely describing the closeness between the Holy Spirit and God. (NIV Study Bible) Since the Spirit is God and God knows the Spirit’s thoughts, who better to help us with prayer? You’ll also notice that the Spirit is referred to here as “himself” because the Holy Spirit is not an it but rather a him. Ephesians 6:18a says “ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayer and request.”
In verse 27 we see that he (the Spirit) intercedes for saints, or believers, in accordance to God’s will. The word “he” used in verse 27 is in reference to God. The Spirit doesn’t just make petitions for us so that we can be glorified but so God can be glorified. In Psalm 139:23-24 David writes “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting.” David is acknowledging that God knows his heart better than he does himself. The Spirit knows not only our hearts but also God’s heart and His will. We do not enter into our relationship alone but with God living inside of us. A man named Paul Schleiker at my church says it like this: “The Holy Spirit is a living person, living inside a living person.”
Word Study:
Weakness (TNIV) / Infirmities (KJV)
Greek: ASTHENEIA (s. 769)
- To want of strength, weakness, indicating inability to produce results
Know (NIV)
Greek: eidó (s.1492)
- be aware, behold, consider, perceive
Interceded (NIV)
Greek: ENTUGCHANó (s.1793)
- plead with
Scripture References (NIV):
Ephesians 6:18a / And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests
Psalm 139:23-24 / Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Discussion Questions:
1. How does the Spirit help Christians in their weaknesses?
The Spirit helps by giving them power to overcome strongholds in their life. By the Spirit living in them it makes them aware of areas of sin and Jesus says it’s better to have the Holy Spirit come than have Jesus with us.
2. What do you think hinders believers from praying in the Spirit?
I think young believers just don’t understand. I think some people want their way and so they ignore the will of God in their prayers. So people think it’s something only the super spiritual people do or pastors and don’t see that it’s available for all of us.
Illustration:
Some of you might not know this but I love to bake. When I was little I loved helping my mom make cookies. Looking back on it, I don’t know how much “help” I really was. I think my mom made the delicious chocolate chip cookies despite my help, more than because of it. Even though I did my best, I just didn’t know enough to do what needed to be done. My mom could have made the cookies without me but she didn’t because she loved spending time with me and making memories.
I think you can relate this to our relationship with God especially when it comes to prayer. Does God need our prayers? Probably not but he delights in us when we spend time with him and talk with him. Just like I couldn’t make cookies on my own as a child so it is with prayer. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help us in so many different ways and one of them is prayer.
We will never get to a point where we don’t need the Holy Spirit. He just knows way more than we do.
Application:
The Holy Spirit is our prayer partner and he helps us in our weakness. He knows what is on our hearts and what we ought to pray for. One of our greatest weaknesses is relying on our own strength instead of trusting God.
I encourage you to meditate on Psalm 139:23-24 this week. Do you find it hard to ask God to reveal things in your heart that could be offensive? When we come to God in prayer we need to first humble ourselves and admit our spiritual weakness. Invite the Spirit into your prayers. You can ask Him what He would want you to pray about and see what comes to mind.
Creative Idea:
Supplies: 3 identical boxes with different types of candy, blindfold.
Ask for a volunteer. Once someone has volunteered start to hype up the fun and how exciting game is. Then bring out the 3 bowls with different candy. Have the person go ahead and pick only one bowl and one piece of candy. After the person does it have them sit down and talk about how fun and suspenseful it was.
Ask for a second volunteer. This time have the person be blindfolded and maybe even spun around a little. Again bring out the 3 bowls and again let them choose a piece of candy. But before they choose tell them they have the option of asking the rest of the group to help him by removing one bowl, thus leaving him with the best 2 choices. After he chooses, have him or her go back to their seat and start the teaching point while passing out the rest of the candy.
Who, out of the two volunteers, do you think had the most fun? (The answer is the blindfolded one). When they had the options just sitting out in front of them, even if they are all good options it’s just not as fun and suspenseful. When it comes to faith we often are asking God to reveal the future or answers to our questions but then we’re losing something. We lose hope and faith because both of those pertain to things unseen. We can trust that God has good things for us according to his will. He has also provided help in the Holy Spirit. Just like the blindfolded volunteer could have help with his choosing so we also always have help in our weaknesses and prayers.
Teaching Point 3: God’s Purpose is to make us like Christ (v 28-30)
Teaching Explanation:
This last part of the passage starts with one of my favorite verses. It’s verse 28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” This verse gets misconstrued but in context we see that it is talking about how even in times of suffering God is working good in our lives. Not the kind of good like, oh maybe since this bad thing is happening God will make me prosperous or give me what I want, but in the way that honors Him and in accordance to His will. It’s all about God.
It starts again with “we” meaning believers and also repeats that we “know”. God knew us before the creation of everything and before we ever knew him. Our purpose in life is to bring glory to God and worship Him. It is also worth noting the “all things” part. It’s not just in some things but in ALL THINGS. You’ll not that it’s God doing the work. It doesn’t say that in all things we work to bring God glory but that God works. It’s not on our shoulders to do the work but to surrender and submit.
The next part of the verse can be a bit intimidating to bring up at the end of our discussion but I’m gutsy so we’re going to go for it. Verse 29 and 30 say “29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Here it says that the reason He calls us is to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, Jesus. The process is listed out in verse 30 “predestined, called, justified, glorified.” It also mentions that he might be the firstborn. “A firstborn had privileges and was highly valued, and in the OT they got a larger inheritance, a special paternal blessing, family leadership and an honored place at mealtimes (Gn. 25:5-6; 27:35-36; 37:21ff.; 42:37; 43:33; Dt. 21:15-17). God’s people, both living and dead, can be described as the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, since they share the privileges of the Son (Heb. 12:23).” (The New Bible Dictionary)
God loves us just how we are but He doesn’t want us to stay that way. The word conformed here is “Summorphos” in the Greek meaning “Akin to, signifies having the same form as another“. In Philippians 1:6 it says “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Scripture Reference:
Philippians 1:6 / being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Psalm 139:15-16 / My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
Word Study:
Conformed (TNIV)
Greek: SUMMORPHOS (s.4832)
- akin to, signifies having the same form as another, conformed to
Glorified (NIV)
Greek: DOXAZó (s.1392)
- to render or esteem glorious, glorify, honor, magnify.
Illustration:
These last few weeks it has been amazing to hear all the student’s testimonies. In each of them we see God’s amazing transformational power. We also see that although our backgrounds are vastly different, our end is very much the same. We have peace, joy and purpose among other things. The reason for this is because we are all being transformed INTO something; Christ. It looks different in each of us but the common factor is that we are being made more like Christ though the power of the Holy Spirit.
Application:
How can we measure our spiritual growth? Well since it’s not about us but more about Christ in us, we can look to the fruit of the Spirit. It is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. On the hand out I’ll pass out now you’ll see I have already made a chart for you. On one side I listed the fruit of the Spirit and on the other side I labeled the column “Rotten Fruit”. Here you can list out what the opposite of each fruit would be. Then take a long look at the list and ask yourself “what would my roommate/ teacher/ friend say I’m more like; the right column or left?” It’s not to make you feel bad or good about yourself but to recognize that we cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit. We see how much grace God has for us. He is working in us for the purpose of making us more like Christ.
Discussion Questions:
1. What is the difference between trying and trusting when it comes to faith?
Trying is doing it all yourself and your own effort and trusting is putting the effort on God and surrendering yourself to Him.
2. What does it mean to you that God is transforming you into more Christ likeness?
It means everything to me. It gives me hope and helps me not to put the burden on my shoulders of being “good enough” for Christ.
Conclusion:
Romans 8:28 is still one of my favorite verses especially after we see the bigger picture. Through the Holy Spirit we are being made more like Christ. It’s by Jesus death on the cross that we are redeemed and we wait and hope for the coming redemption of our whole world and bodies. In the mean time God has given us the Holy Spirit and he is our prayer partner. He intercedes for us and fills our God shaped hole by living in us. It is God who is doing the work in us and his purpose is to make us like Christ. And we play a part in this whole process. Our role is to surrender and trust. We can be confident that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.
