Sermon on Romans 8:18-23 A Biblical Perspective of Natural Disaster

What this episode covers

Romans 8: 18-23 scroll to 37:36 for the sermon Romans 8:18-23 We’re going to stand and read some scripture while the kids are on their way to Junior Church, and this is from Romans chapter 8, verses 18 through 23, and you can follow along on the screen as I read. This is the Apostle Paul writing to the church at Rome. He writes; I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. He’s saying the best for us is yet to come. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by his own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to Sonship, the redemption of our bodies. All right, very rarely do I steer off of going through a book of the Bible and jump on a topic, but I’ve probably done this maybe three or four times in many years. But I thought I would bring a message just relating to a biblical perspective of what’s happening in our world. And we look around and think about what’s happening in the state of California. And you know, that’s all the way over on the other side of the country. But if you follow the news, it is horrific. And evacuations of 150,000 people, 12,000 homes and schools and churches burned to the ground. And people that wake up one morning and literally have no material possessions. And we shouldn’t forget what happened in Western North Carolina not that long ago, Hurricane Helene came through and devastated that area and they’re still recovering. And through your gracious giving, we were able to send some funds down to Samaritan’s Purse, which was the boots on the ground to help those people in Western North Carolina. So, we want to think about a biblical perspective of natural disasters because when earthquakes happen, when floods happen, when tsunamis happen, when fires happen, the unspoken question is, well, where’s God in all this? And why is God allowing this to happen? And why doesn’t God do something? And so, we’re going to spend a half hour this morning thinking about this biblical perspective of natural disasters. And we need to think about what a biblical worldview is. And that’s really looking at the world events through the lens of Scripture, through the framework of what the Bible teaches. And so, we want to think about a biblical worldview. And we want to think about three biblical truths and then answer the question, well, what should we be doing? Or as the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote in a book a number of years ago back in the 70s, how should we then live? And God, what are you expecting us to do during this time period in our world history? So quickly, we’re going to think about three truths. Here’s the first one. We are living in the in-between. 1. The First Truth We are living in the in-between. What do I mean by that? Well, I’ll explain it. We’re living in between Genesis 1-2 and Revelation 21 and 22. We’re living in that time period between the creation of the world when God put Adam and Eve in a place called the Garden of Eden, which was this perfect world, perfect environment. No sin, no sickness. Life was perfect. That’s Genesis 1-2. That’s the world that God intended. Probably, I don’t know, 30 years ago or now, Diane and I do very little traveling, although in about a week or so, we are going to head down to Florida for a few days. But about 30, 35 years ago, I would imagine, Diane and I took a trip to Hawaii. And the background of that trip was we had some friends in our previous church, and he was a pilot with what

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