We Must Have Faith and Hope in the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16-25)
(Romans 8:16-25)
“The
Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the
revelations of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to
futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know
that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together
until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan with ourselves, eagerly waiting for the
adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope,
but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what
he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it
with perseverance.”
Now is a time without hope
Why do the righteous possess hope in the Holy Spirit?
Because we born again Christians will possess the new heaven and earth even though those who are not born again will perish with the fall of this world.
Because we born again Christians will possess the new heaven and earth even though those who are not born again will perish with the fall of this world.
Is
there real hope now in the world? No, there isn’t. It exists only with
Jesus. Now is a time of uncertainty and hopelessness. Everything changes
daily and rapidly, and people are trying very hard to keep up with
these rapid changes. They neither seek spiritual truth nor have any
concern for spiritual happiness. Instead they struggle to avoid failure
and live as servants of this world.
New
jobs emerge and old jobs die. Likewise, people are also undergoing
dramatic change. Therefore they live very busy and anxious lives. And
gradually, their hope for this world vanishes. One of the reasons for
this is because they are leading lives without any certain guarantee for
the future. We are living in such an unstable world.
We must hope for eternal life in the Holy Spirit
How
can we obtain real hope? We can obtain it by believing in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit. The hope of those who received the Holy
Spirit is not on earth, but in Heaven. The apostle Paul spoke of the
true hope of Heaven. We who have already received the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit hope for heavenly things. We do so because we believe that
Jesus Christ came to take away all our sins and saved us sinners through
His baptism by John and His blood on the Cross. The Lord granted
heavenly hope to those who believe in the gospel of the forgiveness of
sin.
Romans
8:19-21 says, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly
waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was
subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected
it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
All creation hopes to be delivered from the bondage of corruption and
death.
All
things in this world are imperfect, so they groan and wait for the sons
of God to be revealed. In addition, they also wish to be freed from the
bondage of corruption and to live eternally. All creation waits for the
day when they never decay nor fade away but instead live forever.
Someday
all creations made by God will be renewed. Although a flower withers
and decays in this world, it will always blossom and live forever in a
new world. We who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit will also see
this new world.
Jesus
Christ promised that He would come again, raise those who have the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, give a new body which is both
incorruptible and immortal to each of them, and give them eternal life.
He also promised them that they would live forever in Heaven together
with God. All creations in the world are waiting for that day. They will
also live forever with us, the sons of God, when that day comes.
This world seen through hope
When
does this dream come true for the righteous? It comes true when our
Lord returns. We must be in hope when looking at this world. Jesus says
that there will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes and wars in various
places (Matthew 24:7). But the end has not yet arrived. On the last day
of this world, our Lord will come again, renew all worldly things and
bequeath the spiritual body of immortality to us. This means plants and
animals will also receive immortality. By believing this, we must see
the world with renewed hope.
In
this world, even those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit groan
within themselves with all creation, eagerly awaiting the glory of
redemption of our bodies as His children. We see the world with hope
because the Lord will make us His children, who will never decay nor die
when He returns.
Although
the world will be destroyed someday, all things will be renewed when
the Lord comes again. We must live with hope by believing that. The
renewed world will be as joyful and wonderful as any fantastic world you
have read of in fairy tales. Think about living in such a world for a
thousand years. And we will also have eternal life as His children when
we enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We must live with such hope.
Do
you see any hope in this world? No. People live in a happy go-lucky
way, because they don’t have any hope for this world. But our Lord has
given the hope of Heaven to those who have been forgiven and made
righteous. “For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not
hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for
what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” This
means we must be patient enough to wait for Jesus’ return because we
were saved by our belief in God’s words.
We
have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our soul because we were
saved from our sins. That is, those forgiven by Jesus have the Holy
Spirit in their hearts instead of sin. What then of our bodies? Our weak
bodies will also be resurrected, receive new life and immortality. We
will live forever together with God when Jesus returns. Only those born
again are privileged to do so in hope, and therefore our spirit and
flesh will become perfect. Our flesh will become eternal and we will
never become sick. Our worldly bodies are weak, therefore, it’s
impossible for us to live a perfect life. But then we will live a
perfect life. Let’s look forward to the Second Coming of the Lord. Only
those who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can have that kind of
hope and life.
The
hope of the righteous is not only in Heaven but also come true in this
world. The Bible says that our Lord will come again when this world is
fallen after the Great Tribulation. He will surely come. When He came
for the first time, He was baptized for the sake of sinners, died on the
Cross to make them righteous, and finally ascended to Heaven. Now is
the time when the Lord is about to come again.
At
that time, He will wake all the sleeping saints who believed in Jesus
and received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and will free them from
the bondage of corruption. He will give them new heavenly bodies that
never decay nor get sick. In addition, they will be caught up in the
clouds to meet Him in the air and He will make all things new.
After
that, we, together with Jesus our Lord, will live and reign with Him in
the new world for a millennium in compensation for serving the gospel.
This is a rehearsal for those who are to go to Heaven. This is the hope
of Heaven and reality. At that time, all the imperfect things will turn
perfect, and things that are to decay will never decay. The words, “The
body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption” (1 Corinthians
15:42), will be fulfilled at the time through Jesus Christ.
Let
us who have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit have hope! You should
remember that although all things weaken and die, this is not the end.
We must have the belief of hope that our Lord will make the whole world
new again. We must live in the hope of the new heaven and earth. Having
this hope, we are able to preach the gospel.
We
have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit because we were saved from the
sins of the world. Likewise, the Holy Spirit within us is looking
forward to the Lord’s return. He makes intercessions to God the Father
on behalf of us to live with hope and faith without disappointment in
our hearts.
We should live in hope in the Holy Spirit
Where is the place of the righteous? It will be in [5]the Millennium
that the Lord will rebuild by renewing this earth when He comes again
and also the Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we should be patient enough
to wait for that Day to come. We must believe that our Lord will make
our bodies perfect when this world has fallen. We must have hope for a
glorious tomorrow.
5When
the Lord Jesus comes down to this world for the second time according
to His promise, He will descend from Heaven, and raise the dead in
Christ first. Following this, He will change all the saints, the alive
and the risen, into eternal bodies incorruptible and immortal, and He
will catch up all the saints in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
Then
He will make all things new after pouring the seven bowls of His wrath
on to the remaining sinners. He will establish His Kingdom on the
renewed earth, and will reign a thousand years with those who have part
in the first resurrection (Revelation 20:4-5). After the Millennium, He
will judge all the dead, and cast them into the lake of fire (Revelation
20:11-15). Then He will lead all His people into the heavenly City, the
New Jerusalem, and will dwell with them forever (Revelation 21:1-4).
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Having
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Paul had the same hope that we have.
We live with the same hope in our minds, waiting for the Millennium and
the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are not born again will perish with
the fall of this world, but we born again Christians will possess the
new heaven and earth. This hope will really come true. Our bodies will
become perfect and we will live and reign with Jesus for one thousand
years in the new world. Looking forward to that day, we can have hope
and live without fear in the world.
Let
us be patient and wait. Though our life is exhausting, our hopes will
come true because we believe in God. Those without hope are nothing more
than dead people already. Please have hope and maintain your dreams by
believing in God’s words.
Just
as our forgiveness was real, the changes in our bodies will be real and
it is real for all creatures to earn eternal life. Our hope is also
real. Have faith in what you believe. Those who have hope can be
beautiful and happy. People become unhappy if they do not have hope.
Those without any dreams have no happiness. We can lead happy lives
because we have hope for the Millennium and the Kingdom of Heaven, the
new heaven and earth.
The
righteous must have hope and preach this hope in the Holy Spirit. We
must hope that our gospel spreads throughout the whole world. If you
have firm faith, you will realize that the world is not that big. Though
our beginning was insignificant, we will be able to preach the gospel
throughout the world if we have hope with perseverance. Just as Paul
did, we must believe.
Those
with hope are faithful in their work of preaching this beautiful
gospel. We must hope for the gospel to spread in this age of
hopelessness. We must preach the beautiful gospel to the exhausted,
hopeless, poor and humble. We must deliver them from the darkness by
preaching the hope about the Kingdom of Heaven, where only those who
have been forgiven for their sins by believing the gospel of the water
and the Spirit can enter. We must inspire them to have hope that the
world of God will suddenly come like a thief after this time of
hardship.
Servants
and saints who are born again, please preach this gospel to the ends of
this world, maintaining firmly your hope for Heaven. No matter how fast
this world falls, those with hope never perish because they have
something eternal beyond this earthly life. They surely have a second
life given to them by the Lord.
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