Message Notes Romans 8:24-27

Today we come to Romans 8:24-27. In= order to comprehend its significance, it is important to understand the overall v= iew of this wonderful book.

Romans is a book that describes God’s full salvation. At the beginning of Romans we see = that man was condemned= by God through = the act of one man—Adam. Ho= wever, man was justified by God through the righteous act of another man—Jesus Christ. Once justified, God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, enters into = man regenerating man, beginning the process of sanctif= ication, transformation, and conform= ation. The final issue of = mans salvations is glorification (the redemption of our body)—full sonship that= man might express God for eternity. Today this glorification is our hope (8:24; Col. 1:27).

Hope is a marvelous thing! Hope means desire with expectation of fulfillment.&nb= sp; It is anticipation of something promised. Yet as we are filled with the hope= of our glorification; the path to get there is sometimes obscure and strewn wi= th difficulties. As a result, we= need to pray. Prayer is a testimon= y that we are in need of help. Prayer means that I can’t do this myself.&n= bsp; Prayer is dependence on God. However, many times when we pray, we don’t know for what we sh= ould pray. We are at a loss for wo= rds. We know our destiny, but we don= 217;t know how to get there—even worse, we don’t know how to pray properly to get to our destination.

Praise the Lord, we have help! The Spirit joins in to = help us in our weakness of not knowing how or for what to pray for regarding our= sonship. He prays on our behalf with groanings which can no= t be uttered. The Spirit prays to = God for us. He knows exactly what= we need to obtain our sonship. He searches our heart and knows th= e mind of our spirit. Based upon this knowledge, He intercedes for us according to God’s will—that we= be conformed to the image of His firstborn Son. The Spirit’s groanings in each believer is different, based upon where the believer is in their stage in the growth process. Each believer is spe= cial and God’s work with and in them is unique.

Do not think that we are so clear about our journey to glory, let alone that of others. We should not be that clear based on Romans 8:24-27. How much we each need to enter our secret place an= d open to the Lord, allowing the Spirit to intercede for us through unspeakable groanings that we would be perfected unto glory (our = full sonship) according to the will of God.