Welcomed into Glory – Romans 8

A text – Romans 8:12-25

¹² So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

¹⁸ I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, ²⁰ for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, ²³ and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

A reflection:

If we can, from our hearts, call God “Father” or even Daddy or Papa, Paul says, that is the Holy Spirit reminding us that we are children of God by adoption. Anyone who can pray in that way to God as Father is a child of God by adoption, just like us. We are all adopted brothers and sisters.

Preachers say that all the time. “Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,” they begin their sermons. Do we even think about that? What it really means? And if my fellow churchgoers in Fargo at our almost entirely Caucasian congregation do ever think about it, we most likely think of our surrounding congregants and not of darker-skinned, non-English-speaking folks who live right beside us in our city. But they, too, confess God to be their adoptive parent. We are their brothers and sisters, as God shows no partiality (thank you, St. Peter). We all await the last day and the time we are resurrected into life in God’s never-ending kingdom. We will be sitting next to them at the great wedding feast Jesus described so often.

Paul says we are groaning along with all of creation, waiting for that clear adoption day and the feast that comes with it. Paul says whatever we suffer in the chaos of the present day (like wheat planted right next to weeds) is nothing compared to the glory we will experience in God’s forever kingdom. And of course we will be sharing those glory days with humans from all over the world and from all times, past and present. That will be quite the feast. I can almost imagine the singing, in something even greater than 4-part harmony. Can you imagine what Paul described as the whole “creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” We have been adopted by the tireless work of the Holy Trinity and will be welcomed into glory. Thanks be to God.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for adopting us into your glory. Help us to remember we are brothers and sisters to every person who calls you their heavenly parent, and to be generous and kind to your creation, all of it, every human in it. Amen.