Dock Resource Kit
Sunday sermon, 16 March 2025
This week, Michael spoke to us about the assurance of hope in Romans 8:18–39. He reminded us that while we live in the tension of now and not yet, we have confidence in God’s promises. Creation groans, we groan, and even the Spirit groans—but this is not a groaning of despair; it is the longing for something greater. We have hope in new creation, knowing that suffering is temporary and that all things will be made new. We have hope in prayer, because even in our weakness, the Spirit intercedes for us. We have hope in glorification, trusting that God is shaping us into the image of Christ and securing our future. And we have hope in victory, knowing that nothing—no hardship, no power, no circumstance—can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This passage is a powerful declaration that our salvation is secure, our suffering is not the end, and our hope is unshakable.
Dock Discussion Questions
Living in the Tension – Paul describes creation groaning and our own longing for redemption. How do you personally experience this now and not yet tension in your faith?
When Words Fail – Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what to pray. Have you ever had a moment when you couldn’t find the words to pray? How does this passage encourage you in those times?
God Works for Good – Romans 8:28 is often quoted in difficult seasons. How does understanding that the “good” God works for is shaping us to be like Jesus change the way we interpret this promise?
Unbreakable Love – Paul declares that nothing can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39). Are there times when you struggle to believe this? What would it look like to live with complete confidence in this truth?
Long-form, editted transcript
Romans Series – Pt. 6:
More Than Conquerors.
Introduction: A Rich and Dense Treasure
Good morning, church!
I’m really excited to take us through this next section of Romans this morning. As you know, we’ve been journeying through this book together, and we’re now in week six of our ten-week series.
We started with an overview, looking at the history and context of Romans. Then, over three weeks, we explored the deep theology of salvation. Last week, we focused on the first half of Romans 8, and today, we continue with verses 18 to 39.
Now, before we dive into the passage, let me ask you a question. I know Christmas is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but humour me for a moment.
Who here enjoys Christmas pudding? Show of hands.
In my house, Christmas pudding is pretty divisive. Some people love it, others not so much. But for those of you who do, let me take it a step further—who actually makes their own Christmas pudding?
Wow! That’s impressive. And now, let’s see—who still puts a coin inside their Christmas pudding?
For those who don’t know, the traditional way of making a Christmas pudding involves placing a silver sixpence inside. The idea is that whoever finds the coin in their portion on Christmas Day is meant to have good luck or fortune in the coming year.
Now, bear with me, because this is going somewhere.
This section of Romans 8 is like a rich, dense Christmas pudding—packed full of goodness, deep in theology, full of truth. And just like the pudding, there’s a treasure hidden inside. There’s something here for us to discover and take home today.
That treasure—the ‘silver sixpence’ of this passage—is assurance. The absolute confidence we can have in our salvation.
Romans 8 is a passage bursting with truth, so much so that Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, preaching at Westminster Chapel, spent nearly a year—36 sermons—unpacking just these verses. That’s how dense and profound this section of Scripture is.
Now, don’t worry—I’m not about to keep you here for 36 hours! But I do want us to sit with this text, to really let it shape us today.
And at the heart of it all is this:
There is a difference between salvation and the assurance of salvation.
Paul is not explaining here how we are saved—he’s already covered that. What he is doing is helping us grasp the full confidence and security we can have in our salvation.
And that’s what we’ll focus on today.
So, let’s dive in.
1. Hope in New Creation (Romans 8:18–25)
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its 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…” (Romans 8:18–21)
Paul begins by acknowledging that suffering is real. The early Christians in Rome understood this well. They were living under an empire that did not accept them. To be a Christian in Rome meant exclusion from society. It meant facing persecution. Some had already been expelled from the city. Others were about to face the brutal oppression of Nero.
And yet, Paul says, “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
This is an extraordinary statement. Paul is not dismissing suffering—he is placing it in perspective. The pain we endure now is real, but it is not the final word. There is something coming that is so overwhelmingly glorious that it will eclipse all our suffering.
And here’s where it gets even bigger: it’s not just us who are waiting for redemption. Creation itself is groaning.
Paul describes the world as being in a state of frustration, longing for renewal. Why? Because sin has corrupted not only human beings, but the entire created order.
Think back to Genesis 3, where God tells Adam that because of sin, the ground is cursed. Work becomes toil. The world is not as it should be.
This passage gives us the big picture: our redemption is not just about us as individuals—it is cosmic.
The whole of creation is waiting for the day when all things will be made new.
I love how Paul describes this as “the pains of childbirth.” It’s not just suffering for the sake of suffering. It’s suffering with purpose. The world is in labour, waiting for something glorious to be born.
And in the midst of this groaning, we, too, wait.
“Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:23)
Paul introduces the idea of “firstfruits.” This is important.
In the Old Testament, the firstfruits were the very first part of the harvest—an offering to God, but also a sign of what was to come.
What Paul is saying here is that we have already received a foretaste of what God is going to do. The Holy Spirit within us is like that first part of the harvest. It’s the guarantee, the down payment, of what’s coming.
But we are still waiting for the fullness of it.
We live in the tension of the “already but not yet.”
Have you ever walked on an escalator that isn’t working? You expect it to carry you, but it doesn’t. You take a step, and suddenly it feels much harder than it should.
That’s what life feels like sometimes. We are living in between. We know the promises of God, but we still struggle. We still feel the weight of sin and suffering.
And that’s why we groan.
But—and this is the key—our groaning is not without hope.
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:24–25)
This is what faith looks like.
Faith is trusting in what we cannot yet see.
We may not see the fullness of our redemption yet. We may still feel the tension of a broken world. But we know that God is faithful.
And so, we wait with expectation.
The promise is sure.
Creation will be restored.
We will be glorified.
And the suffering of this present moment will not last forever.
That is our hope in new creation.
2. Hope in Prayer (Romans 8:26–27)
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26–27)
Paul now shifts from talking about the groaning of creation and our own longing for redemption to something even deeper—the Spirit’s groaning.
Did you notice the pattern?
First, creation groans (verse 22).
Then, we groan (verse 23).
Now, the Spirit groans (verse 26).
There is a deep, cosmic tension in the world. But we are not groaning alone.
This passage is incredibly powerful. It describes one of the most intimate and mysterious aspects of our relationship with God: when we are weak, when we don’t know what to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
That means, in moments when we are overwhelmed, when life doesn’t make sense, when we don’t have the words—God himself prays for us.
When We Don’t Know What to Pray
Have you ever been in a place where you just didn’t have the words?
Maybe you’ve sat in silence, completely lost for what to say to God.
Maybe you’ve only been able to whisper, “Help.”
Maybe you’ve been so burdened that all you could do was cry.
This passage tells us that in those moments, the Spirit is praying for you.
And here’s something amazing:
Every prayer the Spirit prays on our behalf is always answered “yes.”
Why? Because the Spirit prays in perfect alignment with the will of God (verse 27).
Unlike us, who sometimes pray for things that aren’t good for us, the Spirit prays exactly what we need. And God always answers.
This is hope in prayer.
It means that our weakness does not stop God from working.
It means that even when we don’t know what to say, God is still listening.
Let me give you an example.
I want you to think for a moment—have you ever received a gift that you didn’t even know you wanted, but when you got it, you realised it was perfect?
Maybe it was something small, something you hadn’t asked for, but when you received it, you felt completely seen and known.
That’s what God does.
He knows us better than we know ourselves. The Spirit intercedes in ways we don’t even realise we need. And when we come before God, unsure of what to pray, we can simply say, “Lord, search me.”
That is the incredible promise of this passage.
You are not alone.
You are not unheard.
God himself is praying for you.
That’s why we can have confidence in prayer—not because we always know the right words, but because God does.
3. Hope in Glorification (Romans 8:28–30)
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
This is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, and for good reason.
It’s a verse that people hold onto in suffering. A verse that reminds us that even in our hardest moments, God is at work.
But it’s also a verse that is often misunderstood.
What Does “Good” Mean?
Paul does not say that all things are good. He says that God works all things for good.
That’s an important distinction.
It doesn’t mean that every situation we face is good in itself. Suffering is real. Evil is real. Pain is real.
But it does mean that God is weaving all things together for a greater purpose.
Now, here’s the key question: What is that “good” that God is working towards?
Paul tells us in the next verse:
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.” (Romans 8:29)
The ultimate good that God is working towards in our lives is making us more like Jesus.
That means that even the things we don’t understand, even the pain we experience, even the unanswered prayers—God is using them to shape us into the image of Christ.
And then Paul gives us what theologians call “The Golden Chain”:
“Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30)
This is an unbreakable chain.
If you are in Christ, your destiny is secure.
You were foreknown—God saw you and loved you before you were born.
You were predestined—God had a purpose for you from the very beginning.
You were called—He reached out to you in grace.
You were justified—Your sins were forgiven through Jesus.
And you will be glorified—One day, you will be made new, fully transformed into the image of Christ.
Notice how Paul writes “glorified” in the past tense.
It hasn’t happened yet, but he speaks as if it already has. That’s how certain this promise is.
If you are in Christ, your future is already sealed.
You will be made new.
You will see Him face to face.
You will share in His glory.
And that is hope in glorification.
4. Hope in Victory (Romans 8:31–39)
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
This is the great crescendo of Romans 8.
Paul is building to a declaration—a triumphant, unshakable statement of faith.
And it starts with a simple question:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
Now, let’s be clear—Paul is not saying that no one will ever oppose us.
The early Christians in Rome were facing real persecution. They had enemies.
But Paul is saying that, in the grand scheme of things, no opposition can ultimately stand against God.
Why?
Because God has already given us His Son.
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)
If God gave us Jesus, the most precious gift of all, will He not also give us everything else we need?
Then Paul continues with another powerful question:
“Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” (Romans 8:33)
This is courtroom language.
Imagine standing before a judge, accused of every wrong thing you’ve ever done.
But then, the judge looks at you and says, “Not guilty.”
That’s what God has done for us in Christ.
No one can condemn you. No one can separate you from His love.
Paul finishes with a final, breathtaking statement:
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
Nothing.
Nothing can separate you from His love.
That is hope in victory.
Conclusion: A Prayer for Assurance
Father, thank You for the unshakable hope we have in Jesus. Help us to live in the assurance that nothing can separate us from Your love. When we feel the tension of this world, remind us of the glory that is to come. When we don’t know what to pray, remind us that the Spirit intercedes for us. And when we doubt, remind us that our salvation is secure in Christ.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.