Longing For Home

Look at verse 25, but if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it. Our groaning then is not some depressing moaning, but it is active, it is expectant, it is longing, and it is with eagerness and anticipation. And we live life with this kind of attitude. We groan now, but we know while we groan that we are headed for glory.

Our groaning will one day be swept into glory. Have you ever traveled on an extended trip that took you away from home for a long period of time? You found yourself longing to get back home.

Or maybe you've experienced trials or stress at work or at school and you couldn't wait for the day to end so that you could return to the comforts of home. Well, the Apostle Paul had those kinds of longings, not so much for his earthly home, but for his heavenly home. We're going to explore that longing today. This is wisdom for the heart. Stephen Davey continues his series called From Groaning to Glory with this lesson entitled Longing for Home.

C.S. Lewis wrote a classic allegory of the battle between good and evil, between Christ's kingdom and the rule of Satan over mankind. Perhaps you read the first volume entitled The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

If you haven't, I recommend you get it and you begin reading it no matter what your age happens to be. In the opening of this volume, the kingdom of Narnia is under the control of the wicked witch. The land is bound to perpetual winter. It's all snow. It's all ice. It's all cold in this kingdom as she keeps it in bondage.

Under her reign, springtime will never come. But Aslan, the lion representing Christ, offers himself to the witch to be put to death and her kingdom seems to triumph as it were over him and his hope. But if you've read it, you know Aslan rises from the dead and defeats the wicked witch and the snow immediately begins to melt and the ice melts and the flowers begin to bloom and the trees begin to bud and spring suddenly comes to the kingdom of Narnia.

It's a great story. And some of the allegory obviously fits well with the text we've been looking at. While earth today certainly experiences spring, it is short lived. The hope of spring is replaced with the heat of summer and then the announcement of death in autumn comes true in winter. Once again, nature seems unable to hold on to life. The conditions of Eden's paradise are only short lived throughout the course of a year. The apostle Paul has informed us that it's because of this enslavement to corruption this decay and it is a longing for the day when paradise will return and John informed us of that coming day when trees will bud and flower all year long bearing fruit where plentiful water will flow freely from God's throne where animals and all the earth will enjoy the greenery and the beauty of God's spectacular universe and earth free forever of the wicked ruler who has been banished forever to hell.

That's the truth. The groaning of nature, Paul tells us, will give way to eternal glory. Now the groaning of nature is not alone. Let's go back to this paragraph in Romans chapter 8 and take a closer inspection. He writes again in verse 22 these words for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now and not only this but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons. In other words we're told here that creation is groaning and also that the Christian is groaning and part of the victorious life I believe as a Christian is bound up and understanding that creation is in fact groaning and why you remember in verse 20 we're told it was affected by the fall of man and became bound to frustration and decay this law of entropy this law that takes things from order to disorder. Genesis 3 spelled it out that because of the fall of man thorns and thistles would grow and that inaugurated of course the seasons and the merciless cycles of nature that groans with its hurricanes and tornadoes and earthquakes the fear of animals and the merciless cycle of the violent animal world.

But God reminds us that he is in control of nature and not man and part of joy and confidence is understanding that God is sovereign. Genesis 3 informs us that mankind was given the privilege of stewarding nature making order out of disorder fighting the elements taming the animal mankind is the steward of earth but he is not listen to me he is not the savior of the earth. In fact earth is not dependent upon man for its ultimate survival.

While mankind should not pollute the earth but care for her and tend her as good stewards earth is not going to destruct itself or have some kind of destructive nature that wipes it all away because of something fallen mankind does to her. Just read the book of Revelation find out the end of the days of earth and you discover the stars and planets are still there. The moon is still reflecting the light of the sun. The sun is still warming the earth.

Fresh water and salt water are still plentiful. Animals and trees are in abundance. The earth is covered with people reflecting their national identities and their kingdoms. According to the description of earth in its final days before God recreated it does not run out of oxygen or water or trees or animals or people the earth is covered with all of them. God is sovereign over his creation not man.

Unbelieving man puts himself up as God and savior in his arrogance assuming that it is up to him. No God has given us the privilege of tending earth and we will to our comfort or we can ignore and polluted to our discomfort. But God is sovereign and he will one day make it new. Earth and heaven revelation 21 1 in Revelation 22 verse 3 we're given the signal of this summary where John says and there will on earth be no longer any more curse.

It's gone and creation is longing for that day. Now Paul back here in verse 23 that we just saw says that even we ourselves groan he'll go one step further in telling us what we're groaning for and then even further than that and telling us how to groan the right way as believers. And I believe that it's so important for us to understand this while the world does not understand God's plan for creation I fear the average believer doesn't understand God's plan for the Christian. And so when the Christian is faced with difficult times and will be when the Christian experiences pain and he will when the Christian faces pressure and tribulation and he will when he faces the ridicule of the world and he will when he experiences disease and discomfort and he will when the believer ultimately dies of something and he will he's left with little answer. He has been led to believe fanciful guarantees and mystical promises the Bible really knows nothing of but it is perverted and twisted and tortured into proving some sort of pain free disease free problem free trouble free crisis free life. Just read the New Testament.

Just read the word. Go to Hebrews 11 and look at what happened to God's choicest servants on earth. He said they were sawn asunder they lived destitute lives they were hungry they were thirsty they were persecuted martyred and even today around our globe the vast majority of believers outside of our own country are facing great difficulty today.

These were the people of great faith he speaks of it in Hebrews 11 of whom the world was not worthy. The question is what are we supposed to be groaning about and longing for and how do we go about doing it. Paul gives two key or categorical thoughts let me give them to you. First of all the first thought is this there is the undeniable presence of groaning in the life of the true Christian and secondly there is the unmistakable pattern of groaning in the life of the true Christian. Look again in verse 23 the middle part of it there is the presence of groaning even we that as we were believers even we ourselves groan within ourselves.

I love the honesty of Paul. There is no let's stick a smile on your face and everything is roses now that you belong to Jesus. No the Christian is groaning and that's reality. He says groaning is the reality in the life of the believer.

Ever watch reality TV. Well this is reality KJV or NIV or for the more spiritual NASB. We groan. The word stanadzo is translated here this way. It means to inwardly long. It has the element of sighing.

There is a deep sighing to it. It's a rare word occurring only about a half a dozen times in the New Testament. Three of them in this paragraph where you're sort of unloaded with this this term it's used of Jesus as he groaned to heal the deaf man.

It's used of Jesus as he approached the tomb of Lazarus. He groaned. He grieved the long knowing that humanity was bound to decay and corruption and death along with his creation.

And even though he knew he'd raise Lazarus from the dead he groaned. It's used also of church leaders who groan over the disobedience of members of the flock Hebrews 13. It's a word that carries a deep longing for something better. And here in this text we're told that every believer is involved in some way sighing for longing for groaning for that better day.

That's reality. He says we're grieving for three things. Number one we're groaning for the final compensation of our inheritance. You go back to verse 23 again but we also ourselves have the first fruits of the Spirit. You'd think that'd be time to jump up and down and shout hallelujah but it's in the context of groaning. What does he mean?

How could it be? Well Paul takes from harvest time an illustration that all of his readers would have understood and I certainly wouldn't have if it weren't for study in Leviticus. The believing Jew was to take the first grain of harvest and take it to the priest and the priest held it up or waited before the Lord is as a statement that this farmer's entire harvest is dedicated and consecrated to God. It was something the believer gave to God. Now Paul reverses the Old Testament story or idea in this New Testament principle here in this text the first fruit isn't something the believer gives the God the first fruit is something that God has given the believer and that something is someone the Holy Spirit. He says he is the first fruit that is he is the first payment from God on our incredible eternal and mortal inheritance. It will never perish or leave us so the spirit signifies in effect there is more to come. Paul reassures the Corinthians when he wrote he who established us with you in Christ and anointed us as God who also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Second Corinthians 1. In other words the security of the believer is related to this first fruit this Holy Spirit. It's not related the security that is as to how you grow and how quickly or how obedient you are or how sinless you become or how committed you act. Those are all wonderful things and may very well indicate the genuineness of our faith but the security of believers are related to that and I'm glad because I could grow quicker be less sinful be more passionate in my commitment to Jesus Christ. Our security is not related to what the believer does for God. Our security is related to what God has done for the believer.

It isn't what we give to him that brings us security. It is what he has given us. He says the spirit of God is given to you and now you have this first installment of this incredible inheritance that you will have and you want more. You can't wait to see God in the person of Christ and you long for that.

We experience something like this first fruit or this first installment in our own culture don't we? We put money down on a contract and that holds it for us right? We have this wonderful invention called layaway.

Isn't that wonderful? You know you put a little money down and it's going to stay there until you come back and you put some more money down until finally it's all yours. We also do this in relation to our own personal relationships. When you decide that that girl has to be your girl you give her a down payment in the form of a what? A ring that you cannot afford. And I mean it's a sign of your devotion and love here huh?

I am willing to go deeply in debt for you but it works. Isn't that right men? Isn't that a wonderful thing? How many of you guys when you proposed to your girl had that ring somewhere nearby ready to present it?

Let me see. Oh yeah. Yeah. Why did we do that? Because we needed help right?

There's mostly women laughing on that. It's because we knew we were proposing to somebody we didn't deserve right? Right? Let me give you one more chance for a decent lunch.

You proposed knowing you were asking somebody far better than you deserve to marry you. Amen? Oh yes. It took three times. I needed help too. My dad had a rule that none of his four sons could get married until after college. And I met Marsha my freshman year. It was going to be a long haul. We broke up a few times. If she were here she'd say you broke up a few times. And I broke up before my senior year and she had had it with me. That was it. She was finished. Her dad wanted to have words with me. And I can understand I was Mr. Fickle. This has a lot to do with Romans 8.

I'll get back to it in just a second. Trust me. That next fall, well that summer I grew up a lot. God did a lot in my own heart and I realized I was going to lose something very special.

The best thing God ever did for me. So I came back to school and eventually connected and asked her out and rather tentatively but yet the miracle was she said she would. And I knew before I even came back that I needed to get a ring.

I had never proposed throughout the course of this time and so I did all kinds of odd jobs. I did everything I could imagine to try to get some money to pay for this diamond ring knowing I wanted to propose on Thanksgiving Day. And so on Thanksgiving, over the Thanksgiving break from college we went to her home.

That's where dad lived. I'll make the story short but I proposed and I had the ring and a miracle occurred. It wasn't that her father didn't kill me. That was a miracle. But the miracle was she said yes.

And she put that ring on her finger. And I mean the heavens opened and the great choir of heaven sang the Hallelujah chorus right men. Amen. Amen.

You're with me now I can tell you're going to follow me all the way to the tape here. Well she needed this pledge from me to prove that I meant what I said and it helped. Paul says in effect something that reveals the heart of a gracious God. God in dealing with us as his son's bride gives us more than just words gives us more than just a promise. He gives us the Holy Spirit as a pledge as this down payment that there is more to come. Paul emphasizes this truth to the Ephesian believers. He says after you listen to the message of truth and believed you were sealed in him and the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.

In other words the Holy Spirit is this pledge of God which means this is only the beginning. There is more to come. Have you ever met a girl who's engaged who says oh this is all I want this diamond ring. I don't I don't care any further than that.

I'm satisfied. No she knows that it represents more. There's going to be a wedding. There's going to be a Mr. and a Mrs. There's going to be the setting up of a home. God willing there is going to be a family to grow and and every fiance is excited about the name fiance only because it's going to be replaced eventually with the name wife or husband.

Nobody would say well this is enough. I have the ring. You ask an engaged couple how many days are left.

It's amazing. Even the guy knows. And you know what they're doing while they wait. They're groaning. They're longing.

They're sighing. You don't want to be around them. No true Christian says I have the Holy Spirit. That's enough. You know you can leave me down here on earth Lord now that you've given me your spirit. That's enough. I'm satisfied.

We'll stop here. No believer says that. No the believer is groaning. He is sighing. He is longing for the marriage supper of the lamb. He is longing to set up house in the father's home. He groans for that.

You know something don't you. By the way an engagement can be broken. A marriage vow can be abandoned. A diamond ring isn't enough to make a promise stick a wedding band isn't enough to hold a marriage together. But God's vow will never be broken for it is impossible for God to lie.

That's why his pledge to us is not a thing. It isn't a ring. It isn't a house. It isn't a job. It isn't health. It isn't a child.

It is a person. The Holy Spirit. And he comes and resides in your life as God's seal and promise that things are going to be better one day. And we groan for that. Paul says secondly we also groan for the final consequences of our adoption. He says in verse 23 again the middle part we're waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons. We groan for our adoption as sons. Now we've already studied adoption procedure back in verse 15 and how it related to biblical theology but at least let me add here that adoption is twofold. First there is the placing of a child into the family that adopts him. And then second of all there is the ceremony that bestows upon the mature son the right to represent the family the right to carry on the name the right to represent the name of his father and that's the thought of Paul here it is the second point that he's speaking of the believer is going to be given the responsibility of representing the name of God by ruling with Christ and every Roman son even if he'd been born into the family had the ceremony of adoption as a mature son sort of like we give the keys at 16 they had the ceremony that said you now are responsible you're now an adult you now represent the family and the believer wants and longs to represent God in all his glory that will one day fill the earth by ruling and reigning with Jesus Christ there's nothing wrong with wanting that longing for that part of your inheritance we long for it to happen when the reign of God will fill all the universe third Paul writes that the believer groans for the final consummation of his redemption we long he says for the redemption of our what our body we long to put off the sinful body we long to have done with the limitation and suffering of the body we long for the glorified body that Christ has even now and once we see him we will have it as well or his second coming we long for that race Stedman commented on this text by writing our lives consists of groans we groan because of the ravages that sin make in our lives and in the lives of those we love we groan because we see possibilities that are not being embraced we groan because we see gifted people who are wasting their lives we groan and disappointment we groan and bereavement and sorrow we groan physically and our pain and limitation life consists of a great deal of groaning that's reality and the church at large is saying well let's just kind of fix it now let's get everything we're supposed to have now the longing that we have in our hearts is for the redemption of the body it is for then we long for the day when we will dwell in a new heaven a new earth in bodies much like Christ's where we travel at the speed of thought no obstacle can keep us we can enjoy food and pure worship the longer I live in this body the more I long for that one and if you can imagine this we're told in Matthew that the believer will shine with the brilliance of the Sun S U in we will shine as the Sun Daniel says that the faithful believer will shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven and like the stars forever and forever we can't imagine that we have no idea we just know this isn't all there can be we groan for the final compensation of our inheritance and for the final consequence of our adoption and for the final consummation of our redemption that's what we groan for how do we groan for it well Paul gives us a few reasons or ways number one he tells us that we are to groan with the assurance of hope look at verse 24 quickly for in hope we have been saved now that doesn't mean we hope we have been saved that isn't what he said it means because we are saved we have hope that's different isn't it we are saved from hopelessness to hopefulness the word saved is erst passive which means we have this done to us and we revel in its past and its present and its future effects for us this isn't the hope that says I hope I get into heaven this is the hope that says I wonder how long it's gonna take before I get there this is like the child in the backseat on the way to grandma and grandpa's they say what are we there yet yours too are we there yet are we there yet and you say we're closer than the last time you asked us no we're not but we're getting closer all the time see that's the idea here the believer groans with that kind of longing with that kind of anticipation he wakes up and today he says I wonder if today is the day are we there yet we groan with the assurance of hope we groan secondly without the advantage of sight he writes further but hope that is seen is not hope for why does one also hope for what he sees you could render this who hopes for what he sees the reason we have hope is we can't see it yet we hope because we can't see not because we don't believe it exists we groan third with an attitude of expectation and courage look at verse 25 but if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance we wait eagerly for it our groaning then is not some depressing moaning but it is active it is expectant it is longing and it is with eagerness and anticipation and we live life with this kind of attitude we groan now but we know while we groan that we are headed for glory our groaning will one day be swept into glory that's what he means that shapes the way we groan the way we long the way we wait the lesson you just heard is called longing for home and it comes from the series from groaning to glory i'm so glad you've joined us today here on wisdom for the heart our bible teacher is steven davie steven pastors the shepherd's church in carrie north carolina if your travel plans ever bring you through our area please consider joining us on a sunday morning for a worship service we'd be delighted to meet you face to face steven's been pastoring for over 35 years now the complete archive of all those sermons is available online at wisdom online.org if you haven't already i encourage you to install our app to your phone so that you can quickly and easily access all of our bible-based resources that app contains the audio and the transcript of each of these daily messages we also make available the archive of steven's bible teaching ministry with full-length sermons arranged by book of the bible it's free to install and use and is a great companion for your personal bible study there's a wealth of biblical material there all designed to equip and encourage you in your walk with christ thanks so much for being with us we're going to bring you the final message in our current series next time please make plans to join us then right here 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