Romans 8:17
Now if we are children, then we are heirs -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The NIV translates the Greek phrase εἴπερ (
euper) as “
IF INDEED ("we share in his sufferings,” but it is better translated “
BECAUSE ("we share in his sufferings).” The Greek word is a conjunction describing cause-effect, not describing uncertainty.
We are God’s children just as Jesus Christ is God’s child. We are God’s heirs just as Jesus Christ is God’s heir. The above is true because we suffer the same as Him in order to be glorified like Him.
QUESTION: The obvious question inserts itself here: Exactly what sufferings of Christ must we share in?
ANSWER: Death in this world because of sin’s reign, and a pressing burden to relieve that problem.
If we suffer with Christ in this way – if we devote our earthly lives to overcoming sin and its effects in this world – then we are co-heirs with Christ. When God divvies up the inheritance, we will get an equal portion!
I encourage you to re-read and reflect on that truth several times until it fully sinks in, stimulates, convicts, and motivates you.
Do you realize that of all the gods that have ever been followed in history, none of them has been said to eliminate suffering in this world. Why? Because we see reality all around us. People suffer no matter what god they follow. That causes some people to abandon the idea of God altogether. In fact, the problem of pain and suffering has likely driven more people to atheism or agnosticism than any other issue.
But what if suffering had a purpose – like the pain an athlete endures in the gym in order to have strength and endurance for the game?
Understanding "purposeful suffering" is central to understanding the entire New Testament.
I realize that is a huge, bold statement, but I believe it is true. I can only partially understand the New Testament (and, frankly, the rest of the Bible, too) without fully understanding the direct relationship between suffering in this life and glory in the next life.
To see this, just examine this partial sampling on the topic in the New Testament:
•
2Cor 4:17: "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
•
Php 3:10-11: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
•
Jas 1:2-4: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
•
Jas 1:12:
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."•
1Pet 4:13: "
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."
•
1Pet 5:1: "T
o the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed."
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Currently we suffer, just as Christ did (v. 17). Sometimes we suffer because we’re human, just as Christ was. Sometimes we suffer because we are Christians.
But tomorrow’s glory overlaid on today’s suffering makes today’s suffering imperceptible.
8:19-21 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.
There’s another NIV translation issue we need to examine in v.20. The Greek word translated “frustration” here is
mataiotēs. “Frustration” just doesn’t capture the nuance. A more literal English word would be “worthlessness,” “futility,” or “emptiness.”
This word is only used three other places in the New Testament:
• James 1:26, where James describes the religion of someone who can’t control his tongue as “
worthless”
• Ephesians 4:17, where Paul describes the thinking of Gentiles as “
futile”
•
2 Pet 2:18, where Peter describes the boastful words of the false teachers as “
empty”
I suggest using the word "purposelessness" in v. 20. The creation was subjected to a sense of purposelessness – unable to conquer decay, unable to sustain life, unable to combat evil, unable to support righteousness.
In the Garden of Eden, the ground was cursed because of Adam’s sin. All of creation came under a curse, even the parts of creation that were not guilty of sin.
All of creation is eagerly awaiting our completed salvation – the revealing of our inheritance, our resurrection, and freedom from decay’s bondage – that is, the revelation of the purpose for all of the suffering it has been exposed to since the time of Genesis 3.
8:22-23 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.
Creation’s suffering is intense – as intense as the pains of childbirth! Not only does all of creation groan, we also groan inwardly as we wait for our redemption and adoption.
As Christians, we suffer doubly because we long for our adoption (same word translated “sonship” in v. 15) as God’s children. We are surrounded by evil and ungodliness and suffering and death. It sickens us, pains us. It works counter to the beauty and glory and righteousness and purity that God desires for His creation. It is futile. It seems purposeless. When will you come again, Lord Jesus? How long will you be patient with the raunch and stench that surrounds us?
The Holy Spirit that is in us provides the firstfruits of our adoption and redemption. He provides assurance, purpose, hope.
As Paul puts it in
Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit is “
a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession.” We will be finally saved at our resurrection. Until then we wait patiently.
8:24-25 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.
When what we hope for becomes reality, we will be saved. The wording of 24a suggests that hoping for that redemption is itself part of our being saved.
If we lose that hope, we turn back toward the purposeless despair that is our natural, sinful selves.
But it wouldn’t be hope if we already had it (
v. 24b). So we patiently rest through our suffering in our hope (
v.25).
Together with the context, the full thought of these verses can be summarized this way: We suffer today because of sin and its effects upon all of creation. So did Christ when He was here. During His time of suffering on earth, Jesus could do nothing on His own, only what the Father did through Him. The same is true for us when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Christ was later freed from that suffering when He was glorified. We will be, too. That happened for Christ at His resurrection. It will happen for us at our resurrection. Christ received His inheritance for His endurance. We will too. Until then, we are sustained by our patient hope.
8:26-28 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. 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.
Not only does the creation groan and not only do we groan, but the Holy Spirit groans too (v.26). He helps us when we grow weak under this suffering by praying to God on our behalf.
When we feel too weak to carry on, when the suffering becomes too intense, when we feel like giving up – the Holy Spirit inside us helps us through.
Have you ever been so engrossed in suffering that you close your eyes to pray, and nothing but a swirl of thoughts and emotions comes to the surface? You can’t think a clear thought to God. You don’t know what to say to Him anyway. The pain is too great, the problems to complex. You know He is the answer, but you don’t know what answer He should be. All you can do is sit there with unclear thoughts.
When that time comes, don’t worry. God knew it would come. He gave us the Holy Spirit to deal with it for us. The Spirit’s will is always in line with the Father’s will, and God accepts His intercession for you. Jesus called this Spirit “the comforter, counselor.”
In v.22 our suffering was compared to the suffering of childbirth. How do doctors, nurses, and husbands help women endure the awful pain of childbirth? They keep the mother focused on the joy that is about to come. They encourage her to think about the beautiful baby she is producing. Perhaps the husband brings along images from an ultrasound, or pictures of her holding their other children with a smile shortly after they were born. Anything that can give her hope for the end of the suffering and help her remain focused on what will be produced from this horrible pain!
Should I ask for a way out of this suffering, or should I ask for the strength to endure it? What is God’s will here? Sometimes we don’t know how to talk to God.
No problem. The Holy Spirit is right there ready to intercede for us, to groan to God for us!
The cool thing is that the Holy Spirit’s prayers for us are always in line with God’s will (v.27). And we know that God will use our suffering to accomplish His purpose for our good (v.28).
Because we know that our suffering is purposeful, we can now experience suffering and joy at the same time! As Paul wrote earlier (5:3-5), “we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
In contrast to the purposelessness suffering that creation was subjected to in v.20, God has called us to purposeful suffering!
The sufferings of Jesus on the cross was not only a picture of the torture our sins upon Him and His subsequent separation from the Father, but also a picture of the suffering that true believers will endure in their lives until He comes again. His endurance through it pictured our own dependence upon the Father.
We learned a few chapters ago that the law compels the unbeliever toward grace - first by exposing the evilness of sin and then by exposing our own helplessness against it.
Though the present text doesn't specifically say it, it seems that suffering serves a similar purpose in the life of a Christian. It causes me to continue to hate sin and its effects on this world (rather than be drawn by its appealing lure). It also causes me to continue to be aware of my dependence on God's grace and strength.
Suffering empowers me to keep my eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of my faith - longing for deliverance from this sinful world and compelled to help save others from it.
I will close with this brilliant challenge Henry Ward Beecher made to the world’s philosophers in the mid-1800’s:
"Oh, ye infidel philosophers, teach me how to find joy in sorrow, strength in weakness, and light in darkest days; how to bear buffeting and scorn; how to welcome death, and to pass through it into the sphere of life, and this not for me only, but for the whole world that groans and travails in pain; and till you can do this, speak not to be of a better revelation than the Bible."
~ Henry Ward Beecher
