The Great Eight - Pt 13

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. (Romans 8:23-25 ESV).

The Apostle Paul says in our reading today that we should set our hope on a redeemed body. Then he says, “We wait for it with patience” (v. 25). I’m not so sure I do a very good job of the patience part of that. Perhaps you have that same feeling. Let’s see if we can dig a little deeper and do better with the patience part of waiting. There is no doubt that we can hope for a redeemed body and still be God-centered. This is not selfish or self-centered. It is what God has created us to be. However, the real hope that brings peace and patience in the wait comes in the understanding of the resurrection. Sometimes it is difficult to get excited about heaven. It can seem that that going to heaven means leaving a wonderful world of excitement and entering a drab world of boredom. After all, who really wants to sit on a cloud and play harps and sing for eternity! Well, part of that lack of enthusiasm is in a misunderstanding of what heaven will be. So, let’s look at that for a few minutes today. God’s final purpose for us is not to have our soul or our spirit floating around without our body in some ghost-like mansion in the sky. His purpose for us is to raise our body from the dead and to make it new and beautiful and healthy and strong. His final purpose is not to take us away from the earth to spend eternity in heaven, but to make a new heaven and a new earth where we will live in happiness forever and ever. And if this new earth where we will live forever were going to be completely different from our present earth, then why would God bother to raise our bodies from the dead? Why not just start over with completely different bodies if he were going to start over with a completely different world? Well the answer is that the world will not be completely different. It is our old bodies that will be made new in the resurrection, and it is our old earth that will be made new when Jesus comes. Therefore, I can say with great confidence that if you trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and follow him as your Lord, there is nothing good and happy in your life on this earth that will ever be lost. Whatever is bad will be taken away, but all the good and happy experiences will be kept in the new earth forever. In every experience we really will go from death to life; from disappointment to joy; from dread to excitement. And, because that’s forever, I am now able to be more patient in this little while of a life.