Romans 8 - Part Two

(a) 8:18-27 Our present sufferings are "The Birth-Pains of the Messiah"

Rom. 8:18-27 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Our present “sufferings”—insofar as they are not problems shared equally by believers and unbelievers (such as health problems—from toothache and arthritis to cancer), but are related to our Christian testimony—are because we are out of sync with the “present evil age” in which we live.

The only significant way in which our “already” experience of God’s Last Days differs from the “not yet” one in the future is that we do not yet possess “the glory that will be revealed in us” (v. 18)—which Paul also calls “the revealing of the sons of God” (v. 19), “the glorious freedom of the children of God” (v. 21), and “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (v. 23). That part is still in the future.

And just as we long for that final development (v. 23), so even the material universe around us longs for it (v. 22) and experiences that longing as the “pains of childbirth” (v. 22). The pains of childbirth is a metaphor used by the ancient Hebrew prophets for the dawning of the messianic kingdom of God. This is called the ḥevley ha-mashiaḥ “the birth pains of the Messiah.” It is such a powerful and revealing metaphor, because the pains of childbirth, unlike other pains humans experience, have a goal: the suffering and pain produces a happy outcome, the birth of the long-awaited child. So too, suffering incurred for the cause of Christ serves a purpose and has a happy goal.

Now admittedly, there is a real sense in which life's inherent sufferings —pain, sickness, death itself—are temporal and will be erased at the Coming of Christ. That's where your arthritis or cancer comes in. But your suffering these pains now is not Christian or righteous suffering. Everyone has to go through them. They are not voluntarily accepted for the sake of Christ.

(b) 8:28-39 A 'Song' of the Victors.

There is a danger in assuming that every passage of scripture that sounds eloquent and triumphant was necessarily a “song.” I think it would be rash to assume that this passage was actually sung. But the note of triumph in this closing passage of Romans 8 is evident. It may not actually have been a “song”, but it is certainly like a victor’s song, celebrating the victory of God over all the circumstances and set-backs of the life of his saints.

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. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God has an eternal purpose (v. 28), and to that end he has “called” to faith his saints—you and me (v. 28). And in all the events of life God works for the good of those of us who have responded to that call by choosing him—for that is the Hebraic meaning of the verb “to love”.

We often wonder what that “good” is. That is because we look for it in our present lives. But Paul immediately explains in verses 29 and 30 what he means by "for our good". The four verbs "predestined", "called", "justified" and "glorified" represent the steps God has planned in order to bring us to glory—what he calls in verse 19 "the revealing of the sons of God." These are the steps in our pathway to glory, as seen from God's point of view. From our own earthly viewpoint we also see the sufferings which inevitably accompany our passage. Paul wrote in v. 17:

and if [we are] children, then [we are also] heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

In any event, it is not wrong for us to feel sadness and disappointment, when we experience suffering. There are good biblical precedents and examples to show the appropriateness of godly grief. But it is wrong to let that temporary sadness turn into despair and lack of faith. I have heard preachers at memorial services say, “I can see no good at all in this tragic death.” I understand why a preacher might say such a thing: he wants the mourners to understand that he understands their grief. He wishes to be honest. But it is a mistake not to then add: “but since God is good and loves us as his children, we who believe in him must believe that all our sufferings are for a good purpose that we will understand eventually.”

31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

This triumphant attitude is not just wishful thinking. The above passage gives us a reason why we may expect that the result of life for us who believe will be "good". It is in what God has already done, which guarantees a happy outcome for his children. God is for us. He has shown that he is by not sparing his own Son, but giving him up as a sacrifice for our sins. God has chosen us and justified us. Christ has died for us, risen and ascended to God's throne to intercede for us.

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul’s attitude toward the vicissitudes of life, including all which brings pain, suffering and the temptation to despair, shows a few similarities to the philosophy of Epictetus, the Stoic, but also some profound differences. Like Epictetus, Paul recognizes a fundamental distinction between matters that are not within his personal control, and those which are. Epictetus calls the former "Fate" and would say that he will not fret over them, because he knows that it is useless. But he maintains his dignity and self-worth by controlling what he can. A tyrant may summon him and condemn him to the gallows, but the philosopher will reply that this is “only my puny body”, not my mind (or soul).

Paul, on the other hand, while recognizing somewhat the same two classes of events, considers God in control even of those events which Paul himself cannot control. And he asserts that God who controls all things, has a benevolent purpose ultimately in all which he permits to happen to his worshipers.

Paul understands the Book of Job as a paradigm of the apparently unmerited suffering of the faithful believer, including misunderstanding by friends and relatives. But he has an even more powerful model in Jesus Himself, who suffered unmerited affliction, so that we need not have to suffer eternally for our sins.
The victory which Paul envisions for believers (v. 37) is a victory achieved by passing through (“in all these things”) suffering, not by bypassing it.

If God himself will not condemn us because of what he has done for us in Christ, then mere trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger or sword can pose us no real threat. These were the daily experiences of Paul the Apostle, as he traveled through Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor and Greece, the areas around the Mediterranean Sea, preaching the gospel and planting new churches. He gladly assumed these risks—he embraced them—because he believed these things. This was his "gospel". And it should be ours as well.