God’s Gifts of Grace

Romans 8:18-32

Immanuel – 12/15/24

          It’s pretty obvious that there is a massive amount of variation in the ways that people celebrate Christmas. One family’s Christmas can look entirely different from another family’s. But despite the vast amount of variation, there is one Christmas tradition that virtually every family does: give gifts.

          Of course, the tradition of giving gifts finds its origins in the Christmas story. There are the wisemen who give gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus. But the greater gift – indeed, the greatest gift ever given – was the Son of God come to seek and save the lost, to give His life as a ransom for many. The Father gave the gift of His beloved Son to us.

          When we think of the Father giving the gift of Jesus, imagine a meteorite. Jesus is the massive object that impacted our planet and changed it forever – not in destructive force, but in life-giving, recreative force. When a large meteorite breaks through our atmosphere, there’s all this other stuff that comes with it – lesser objects that make impact along with the great meteorite.

          So it was when the Son of God stepped down from glory to become one of us, by becoming bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh.

And when God sent Jesus into the world, a host of gifts came streaming down with Him. If there was no Jesus, none of these other gifts would have been given. But since He was sent, an array of other gifts came like heavenly fragments from a divine meteorite.

          This is what Scripture teaches us: not only did the Father send His Son, He poured out heaven along with Him. We heard this in our passage, written by the Apostle Paul.

          Read vs 32

If God has given us the gift of His Son, He also graciously pours out the glories of heaven upon us. Today we begin a three-part Christmas sermon series titled “Heaven Poured Out;” A series about the gift of Jesus and a multitude of heaven’s gifts that come with Him.

The sermon today is entitled, “God’s Gifts of Grace,” where we will explore some astounding gifts of grace in Romans 8. Lord willing, next week we will look at Ephesians 4, where we see “A Church Full of Gifts.” Then during the Christmas Eve service, I will take us to John 14 where Jesus promises to give “The Spirit of Peace.”

          Again, today we are in Romans 8. For reasons that will become apparent at the end of today’s service, I have abbreviated and adjusted this sermon. I will not explore this passage as thoroughly as I originally planned, but I trust in the greater plan of my Father who is in Heaven. His will be done, not my own.

          But even in abbreviated form, perhaps you will see that Romans 8 may be the greatest chapter in the entire Bible. Paul writes about gifts of grace that – if we were to earnestly meditate upon them – our breath would be taken away. No words can capture the glories we read here.

          Nonetheless, where our mouths fail to capture the transcendent realities of grace, may worship enrapture our hearts for the giver of the gifts!

          But before we were in need of grace, there was a fall from grace.

Read vs 20

We know the story from Eden. When our first parents chose to listen to the Liar, to distrust God’s goodness, to disobey and eat the forbidden fruit, they fell from their original glory. As they plunged into sin and its destruction, all creation fell with them. This sad, fallen state of creation, Paul calls “futility” in verse 20, “bondage to corruption” in verse 21.

It has been so ever since. In February an earthquake hit Turkey; 59,000 were crushed in the ruble. In June, a heatwave scorched Pakistan, raising temperatures above 100°, reaching 117° in some areas. Humidity made it feel like 120°. Since access to electricity is unreliable in Pakistan, 568 people perished in the heat; thousands were hospitalized. Then there was hurricane Helene: 230 dead, $3-6 billion of damages, a recovery that is ongoing. If you or I were to suddenly hear the cumulative outcry of sorrow and loss from these disasters, it would utterly shatter us. And these are only a few from 2024.

But let’s not forget disasters of another sort. How many bodies fought against themselves as they turned cancerous? How many diseases, infections, viruses – contracted from the environment – laid healthy people in an early grave? How many children were born with disabilities, who will never get to run through the grass, never see a sunset, never hear the birds sing? How terribly our world has been bound to corruption!

Look again at what verse 20 says: creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it. Meaning, God did this to creation. God made it this way. All this disaster, loss, sorrow, is because of the futility that God foisted upon the world. He did it.

Why? Why would a good God do something that has wrought so much pain and suffering? How can this possibly be good?

It is good because our memory is not. Sin has cast a shadow over our hearts and our sight has been dimmed, our understanding, dulled. So the terror we feel when disaster comes to our door, the woe of pain wrought by a fallen world, God means for it to cast aside the shadows and reveal to us in crystal clarity the horror of ours sins, how ugly they are, how devastatingly destructive is our selfishness and pride.

God subjected creation to futility to so that it would act as a mirror: The brokenness of this world is a reflection of the brokenness within us. If we see that something is wrong in our world, then we should see that something is wrong within us, desperately wrong! And we need to be saved from it!

This is precisely why the Father gifted us His Son! Like verse 32 says, God gave up His Son for us all. Towards the beginning of the chapter, we read this in verses 1-3.

Read vs 1-3

By sending Jesus into the midst of our brokenness, to live the life we each have failed to live, that He would be broken upon the cross, God condemned sin in the flesh. In other words, Jesus took the full weight of the futility that condemns us upon His shoulders. When died, so also did our condemnation. But three days later when Jesus was raised in brilliant light, perfectly righteous, in glory and honor and blessing, hope sprung from the ground.

This resurrected life Jesus offers to any who would trust in Him. This is why Paul writes in verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation! The curse of sin’s corruption is condemned!To believe is to be free. To believe is to be brought into the Father’s undying family. To believe is to be made sons and daughters of the Living God.

If you are in Christ, is this not your hope? What a hope! Look once more at what verse 20 says: God subjected creation to futility in hope. In hope of what? The revelation of the glory of the sons and daughters of God.

Read vs 21-23

What we have just read is too high for us. Hardly can we comprehend these staggering wonders!

In verse 23 we read about our adoption as sons (sons and daughters, really). If you believe in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit indwells your hearts, then already you have been adopted by God. But these things are merely the firstfruits, as Paul refers to them. For the deepest parts of our being groans as we await something more from our adoption.

We await the court date when the adoption is finalized and formalized; the day when our adoption is not just known in our hearts but seen on our skin. Paul refers to the day when we will be made to look like Jesus, when we shall be glorified, when we are in the light as He is in the light. It is the day of resurrection.

What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body… Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.                                                -1 Corinthians 15:42-44,49

On the day of resurrection, all of our self-centered and proud inclinations will be forever obliterated. Sin will no longer need a reflection. Cancer will be eliminated. Disease and death will be forever killed. I don’t know exactly what this means, but God promises that we shall receive spiritual bodies, free from pain and sorrow and sin.

And if you are in Christ, then this a promise for you. So long as God is God, this promise is more guaranteed than the foundations of the mountains, than the rising of the sun. As the Son of God was raised in glory, so shall you – sons and daughters of God – be raised in glory! What sinner has deserved such a gracious gift?!

Remember what happened when our first parents fell into sin? All creation fell with them. What happens when we are raised in glory? Creation is liberated!

Verse 21 says that when our resurrected glory is revealed, creation will be set free from its bondage to corruption. Our eternal freedom is reflected in the world around us. Here Paul is writing about the new heavens and the new earth.

The new heavens and new earth will not be new – like I traded in my car for a new one. Like, now we get something completely different. This is new like my resurrected body is new. It is your same body, but it is different: a spiritual body. It will be the same earth, but different: free from corruption, a new heavens and new earth.

But catch Paul’s logic: As creation followed mankind into brokenness, so it will follow mankind into glory. You do not obtain creation’s freedom, the new creation obtains its freedom from you.

And the language of verse 21 is so powerful. The earth will be remade when it sees the glory – not of the saints, not of the redeemed, not of God’s servants – but when the earth beholds glory of the children of God! Is this not language of intense love, of intimacy, of family? How deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only Son, to make a wretch His treasure – and to lavish treasures of grace upon his family.

The Father has ordained that when His glorified family ascend earth’s mountains, feels the crash of its waves, smells its balsam forests, hears the crack of its thundering, then the bondage of creation will be broken, its futility cast aside, earth’s corruption forever swallowed by the glory that God has given us!

Therefore, it is not right to say, “God will heal your disability and give you a new body suitable for the glory of the new earth.” No! God will renew the earth so that it becomes suitable for the glory of your resurrected, recreated body!

          Awesome gifts! A new creation perfectly suited for the enjoyment and satisfaction of our spiritual bodies. A new creation able to sustain and amplify the intensity of our everlasting worship of God.

          Read vs 24-25

          See how much hope is repeated: verse 20, hope; four times in verse 24; hope in verse 25. I have spoken of two hopes already, new bodies and a new creation. But these are not our best hopes. These are not the hopes that save us.

“In this hope we were saved,” we read in verse 24. It is directly linked to the verse before, and the hope of our adoption as sons. On the day of resurrection, not only will we receive new bodies, and gain entrance into the new creation, but something even better will happen.

Peter writes well of this: For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.                -1 Peter 3:18

Our greatest hope is that we believe Jesus will bring us to God. We will see Him. We will know Him. The feeling will saturate our entire being, felt in our marrow, that God is love! Our new bodies, and the new heavens and earth, are so that we could be near God, perfectly image Him, fully enjoy Him, intimately know Him forever.

Even now, in part and not yet in full, Christ has brought us to God. Though we do not yet see Him, He is closer than our breath and He is working for us.

Read vs 31

Let those four words impact your heart like heaven’s meteor: God is for us! The Alpha and Omega, who holds the universe together by the word of His power, who has rent the heavens and come down, this very God is for us! Who can be against us?

A new heavens and a new earth, a resurrected and glorious body, the nearness of our Father who is for us: can words really capture how awesome these things are? No. But when our hearts are gripped by such truths, verse 18 also comes into focus.

Read vs 18

Even if every single day of this life is filled with suffering, and our hearts are cast in grievous shadow, a day is coming when all of this will be revealed as light and momentary. Our pains are a passing shadow, a swiftly moving cloud that blocks the sunlight but for a moment. And this momentary shadow is not worth comparing to the full brilliance of the Son, and the revealing of the sons of God, and all creation made new.

          It is not worth comparing. Therefore, it is not worth despairing. Brothers and sisters, let not your hearts be cast in shadows. As Jesus said,

          “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

                                                                                      -John 14:1

Believe! Believe that God is taking even our sufferings and weaving them into the awesome tapestry of His glory and ours! As we read in verse 28, God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called according to His purpose.

In moments of fear, of pain, of sorrow, remember that God is gracious. He is using these sufferings to weave for you a glory that will one day cause every fiber of your being to reverberate with everlasting joy! These shadows are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us! What gifts of grace!

What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him. – These things God has revealed to us through the spirit.                                                                                – I Corinthians 2:9-10