Lesson 18: Future Glory – 8:18-30
 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
23 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.
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
27 And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.
30 And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.

We ended our last lesson with the statement that our future glory is dependent on our present suffering for Him. Jesus told us in John 15:18-27 how this world would hate us because we belong to Him. We can choose to not suffer with Him, not suffer because we become what the world around us wants us to be rather than standing with Jesus.


But this choice will never give us what we want. If we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we have an enemy who will not allow others around us to accept us as we want to be accepted. Ephesians 6:10-12 tells us our true enemy is not the person next to us, but the evil one and his demons. So all our compromises are for nothing.

Our verses today remind us that even the world around us is groaning in this battle about sin. We too groan under the effects of sin. But God’s solution for us is not to make this world better for us, but to adopt us as His own sons so we can share His glorious eternity with Him.

As His child, He gives us some incredible promises:
* Verse 26 – He helps us in our weakness, which is caused by the sin we still carry in our human bodies.
* Verse 26 – He prays (intercedes) for us even when we do not know how to pray for ourselves.
* Verse 28 – He makes everything work out for our good, no matter how painful or destructive our circumstances may appear to be.
* Verse 29 – He makes us into the image of Jesus, makes us to be like Him.
* Verse 29 – He will raise us just as He raised Jesus from the dead.
* Verse 30 – He already can see the completion of all He has planned for us, nothing at all can ever keep it from happening.

We do not yet see our glory; it will come when Jesus calls us to Himself one day soon. For now, we must choose the suffering which comes from being identified as belonging to Jesus. This suffering has many faces – being killed for being a Christian, or being fired from our job for no good reason, or being picked on by others, or someone taking advantage of us, or someone saying untrue things about us, or being sick, or not having everything we want, and the list goes on. Jesus said in Matthew 5:10-12 He wants us to rejoice in suffering because it is one of the proofs we have of belonging to Him.

*What is the suffering you have the greatest difficulty rejoicing over?