Notes of Faith April 11, 2026
Pastor’s Pen Pulpit Series: Romans 8
June 9, 2002
“PRESENT SUFFERING – FUTURE GLORY”
Romans 8:18-23 Part II
“For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Little did I know when I began this study in Romans 8 that midway into this glorious chapter I would spend a week in the hospital and another week-and-a-half in the rehab wing of Mirada Hills, the hospital in which I convalesced for so many months after my stroke. Always a favorite passage, these verses have become even more pointed and personal.
“For we know the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”
. . . and Paul continues to talk about the anxious longing that the present creation is experiencing and that it looks forward, with great anticipation, for the revealing of the Sons of God (Colossians 3:4). He now connects the futility of the inanimate creation with the sovereign will of God.
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it” - - IN HOPE!
Creation will one day be liberated from its present corruption of decay, death and destruction… into the freedom of the glory of the children of God! Creation will be returned to its’ original glory without decay and death when God gives man the future glory waiting for those who love Him!
It is common knowledge among Christians that the whole created order is going through the pains of childbirth. This is something that the inanimate order inherited from the fallen human race.
• Every storm reveals this fact.
• Every natural disaster demonstrates this truth.
Nature’s destiny is inseparably linked to man’s. The pain of childbirth describes creation’s period of waiting. Creation, like a mother-to-be, travails to give birth which brings forth new life! And when man’s glory is divinely restored, the natural world will be restored as well!
Next week we will talk about how this truth affects Christians.
Eva and I want to again thank you for your prayers. A special thanks to the trio who transformed a dismal hospital room into a concert hall, giving glory to God! This coming week more tests are scheduled which will determine future treatment. God bless.
Love to you all,
Pastor Charles Covington
Ps 98:8-9
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy
9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;
He will judge the world with righteousness
And the peoples with fairness.
Isa 55:6-9
6 So you should look for the Lord before it is too late;
you should call to him while he is near.
7 The wicked should stop doing wrong,
and they should stop their evil thoughts.
They should return to the Lord so he may have mercy on them.
They should come to our God, because he will freely forgive them.
8 The Lord says, "My thoughts are not like your thoughts.
Your ways are not like my ways.
9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. 10 Rain and snow fall from the sky and don't return without watering the ground. They cause the plants to sprout and grow, making seeds for the farmer and bread for the people. 11 The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.
12 "So you will go out with joy and be led out in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees in the fields will clap their hands. 13 Large cypress trees will grow where thornbushes were. Myrtle trees will grow where weeds were. These things will be a reminder of the Lord's promise, and this reminder will never be destroyed."
Rev 21:5
And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
Rev 22:12-13
12 "Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. 13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
Rejoice in hope for the Lord is coming soon!
Pastor Dale