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The Life Producing Hope

Romans 5:1-8
At Community Church of Taichung

Peace to all of you! I am privileged and honoured once again to share a Bible
message among you this morning. Lets pray for our kids first. Dear Lord, we
thank you so much for bestowing so many kids on CCT. They are now going to
Junior Worship. Please fill all of our kids and teachers with your Holy Spirit so
that they may know you more, experience your love and presence more, listen and
surrender to you more, love and serve you more, and honour you more. And in the
same way we are now also praying for us adults here, please fill us with your Holy
Spirit, those who listen and I who am preaching, so that through your word we
may know you more, experience your love and presence more, and our lives may
be transformed to be like you more, to follow your steps, to love, to serve, and to
honour you. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Kids, you can go to Junior Worship now.

One year has flown by so quickly since I came to preach last time. Things didnt go
as I expected. My mom got a mild stroke in March and so both of my parents
needed to be taken care of. Because both of my supervisors are too busy, the oral
defense for my PhD thesis will be delayed to the end of this year. God also opened
an opportunity for me to start my teaching ministry at Central Taiwan Theological
Seminary () this August. Although we will not relocate at this moment
due to my parents conditions, we will move back to Taichung sooner or later.

This morning, I would like us to think deeper on what God reveals to us and about
how our lives can produce hope through Romans 5:1-8. Lets read together this
passage.

1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we
boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering
produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not disappoint us, because Gods love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
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6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good
person someone might actually dare to die.
8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us.

In the beginning, this passage says that since we are justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained
access to this grace in which we stand. Dear brothers and sisters, are you standing
in the grace so that you have peace with God? If we believe in Jesus Christ, we
must be sure that we stand in this grace. But how can we be sure of that? We can
be sure of that, first, because of Jesus Christ. Verse 8 explains further
unequivocally that Jesus Christ died for us. Second, because we believe in Him and
what He has done for us. Here the verb believe is not merely about knowledge but
also means accept. We not only know what Jesus Christ has done for us but also
accept it.

Since we have peace with God, verse 2b says we boast in our hope of sharing the
glory of God. Is sharing the glory of God what you hope for? Most of time we
Christians focus on glorifying God, focus on what we can and should do in order to
glorify Him. But here it is not about glorifying God but sharing the glory of God. It
is about how God has promised to bless and grant lavishly His own glory. It is not
about what we should do but about what God must do. Dear brothers and sisters,
can you tell this difference? How can we, ugly sinful human beings, share Gods
glory? How are we worthy of sharing Gods glory? But God has promised to grant
us this unimaginable privilege. This privilege does not depend on how good we are
but depends on His grace, depends on how God so loved us. We dont need to do
anything but accept this gracious gift.

The problem is: do we cherish this precious gift? What percentage in our prayers
is about this? Not much, right? What percentage of what we seek for in our
prayers is the same as what non-Christians seek for? We can know the answer
from the contents of our personal or church prayer request list. Most of time, we
might cherish the glory received from the world and from other people much more
than the glory from God, let alone the glory of God we can share with.

Several years ago, I began to play tennis in a private court owned by a company. A
retired old man was coaching me for free. He is not a Christian. Some of us players
wash and hang our clothes out in the court after playing. One morning, my coach
and I went to the court after a typhoon. He walked ahead of me to take his clothes
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but found all of his were fallen on the ground. I went after him and found all of
mine were still hanging. My coach said to me, why are the clothes on the ground
all mine and yours are still hanging? Is it because you are a Christian and a pastor
so that God kept your clothes from falling? What would be your answer to such a
question posted by a seeker? Last year, I drove to Taipei to preach at a church on a
Sunday morning. It took me more time than usual to find a free parking space.
When I entered the church, the sister who arrived first said me, Pastor Hwang, it
was very hard to find a free parking space this morning, wasnt it? I replied, Yes
it was. It took me 2 0 minutes to find a free parking space. She was surprised
saying, I spent 30 minutes and could not find any free parking space. In all these
years, today is the first time I paid to park my car. It must be because you are a
pastor so that you spent less time and still had found free parking space. What
would be your response be to this Christian? In other words, do you think that
God shall provide you preferential treatment in general matters because you are a
Christian? After deep consideration, you may say no. But when we pray, how often
do we expect that God shall provide us special treatment in general matters
because we are Christians or His children?

My reply to both my tennis coach and the sister was this, This is not because I am
a Christian or a pastor. This is by chance or by luck. This is by Gods common
grace. It was then a good opportunity to explain the meaning of the Gospel to my
tennis coach. Of course, for Christians like us who believe that God controls
everything, there is nothing that happens by chance. But when I say by chance or
by luck here, I mean there is no difference of rate occurrence in such general
matters between Christians and non-Christians or between Christians and pastors.

How many of you have heard the phrase common grace? Lets see how Jesus
teaches the truth related to common grace. Lets read together Matthew 6: 25-33:

25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what
you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?
28 And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow; they neither toil nor spin,
29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.
30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is
thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe youyou of little faith?
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31 Therefore do not worry, saying, What will we eat? or What will we drink?
or What will we wear?
32 For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things will be given to you as well.

Jesus says in verse 32 it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things? The
Gentiles denote non-Jews in the Bible and means non-Christians in our context.
This is a very strong statement. Nevertheless, we Christians seldom take it
seriously. From my experience and observation of Christians lives for many years,
the high percentage of what we pray and seek for ourselves and others are the
same things that non-Christians also strive for. It is as Jesus pointed it out here.
Why does Jesus state this? It is because Jesus does not want us to waste the
privilege of being his Children. Lets look at Matthew 5:43-48 where Jesus taught,
lets read together

43 You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your
enemy.
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise
on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the
unrighteous.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the
tax-collectors do the same?
47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Should we Christians get better sunshine, better rain, better air, better chances of
survival in a disaster or fatal disease, or better chances to find a free parking space
than non-Christians? No, absolutely not. For as Jesus explains, the Father in
heaven makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the
righteous and on the unrighteous. This is the common grace God grants all human
beings regardless of their beliefs. It is Gods grace because all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and deserve the hell instead of the life on
the earth. This grace is common to all. You dont need to first become a Christian
and then can live and enjoy everything on the earth. This grace is granted by God
mainly by means of natural law created by God. Non-Christians might view that
the good things come by luck and the bad by bad luck. Therefore, they will not
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pray to God and then thank God. For Christians, we pray to God and then thank
God because we know Him and we know He is the Lord of the whole universe. But
we must not misunderstand that God will grant us special treatments in these
things because Jesus teaches us that this is the common grace and He does not
want us to be like non-Christians, focusing on these things and wasting our
privilege provided only for His children

I recall an episode in my childhood. In that era in Taiwan, playing glass marbles is

popular to boys. We call in Chinese. I guess one of the reasons why it was
so popular is because the marbles are very cheap so that every family can afford to
buy them for their boys. You could buy several marbles for one NT dollar at that
time. My family was not rich but my parents did not allow me to play marbles.
When boys play marbles, they must crawl across the floor so that their clothes get
so dirty after playing. This was why my parents didnt allow me to play it and
didnt buy me any marbles. I could only stand aside to watch the game and envy
other boys. There was one other thing most boys longed for. It was small metal toy
car, we called it in Chinese (literally meaning as matchbox small
car). But they were very expensive because all of them were imported so that most
boys didnt have any. It costed dozens of times, or even more than one hundred
times, than marbles did. One day my uncle gave me one new matchbox small car. I
was so excited and happy and showed it off to everyone. But after several days
gone by, I still watched other boys playing marbles with my new car in my hand
and still envied them. One day, a clever and mischievous older boy asked me, Do
you want to exchange my marble with your matchbox small car? Guess what? I
went so far as to say yes and exchanged my new car for one marble. How stupid I
was!

Likewise, what a pity if we spend most of our time and energy focused on praying
for the things or needs that non-Christians shall also get from God without
believing in and praying to Him! What a pity if we dont cherish the special grace
only Christians can have but exchange it for more common grace that
non-Christians can have without knowing God!

In order to grant us the special grace, Jesus Christ must come to earth and die on
the cross and He has already done it. This special grace has been granted to
reconcile us to God. Because of our sin, Jesus Christ must come down to the earth
to die for us. This is what Romans 5:6-8 explains
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6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good
person someone might actually dare to die.
8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us.

For granting human beings common grace, the Holy Son didnt need to come and
die for us. He can stay in Heaven and give you a free parking spot, heal your
disease and prepare a job for you. Crudely speaking, if you have a financial
problem, the Holy Son would be able to scatter NT dollar bills directly from the
Heaven without any problem, wouldnt He? But solely for our sin, the Holy Son
must come and die for us. This is the special grace only received by believing in
Jesus Christ and accepting His salvation. In other words, if what we pray for
doesnt necessitate Jesus Christs coming and dying for us, then that is what the
Gentiles or non-Christians seek for.

Some Christians might argue, Since I have already had the special grace and some
common grace, I surely seek for some other common grace which I havent had.
But still, why does Jesus not want us to be like non-Christians seeking for the
common grace? Because the special grace is not mainly about afterlife, as many
Christians assum. It is about our new different eternal lives that do not begin when
we die but begin when we were reborn in Christ on the earth. That is why Romans
5 does not stop at verses 1 and 2 in teaching us that we boast in our hope of
sharing the glory of God. This hope will be only fulfilled completely when we enter
into New Heaven and New Earth after we die.

It goes on to say in verse 3

3a And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings.

The Bible is very practical and never depicts an idealized or unrealistic picture
that we will live happy and joyful lives without any suffering as long as we believe
in Jesus Christ. Here verse 3a tells us that we will have sufferings, or afflictions, in
our daily Christian life but we can boast in our sufferings. But why and how can
we boast in our sufferings?

Verse 3 continues, because we

3b know[ing] that suffering produces endurance,

4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
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5a and hope does not disappoint us,

If an athlete is confident that the suffering during training will surely lead to
winning an Olympic Gold medal, he or she must boast in his/her suffering during
training because the hope to win it will not fail. Likewise, if we know confidently
that our suffering ultimately leads to the hope that does not disappoint us through
a producing process, then we can surely boast in our sufferings. This hope is not
merely glorified by God but rather sharing the glory of God as mentioned in verse
2.

But still how can we know it for sure? Verse 5 explains:

5b because Gods love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that
has been given to us.

When we suffer, our confidence in the hope of sharing the glory of God does not
depend on us, our capability and our goodness but on Gods love.

But again, how can we be sure of Gods love? Dear brothers and sisters, how can
you be sure that God loves you especially when you are in long sufferings?

If we seek for Gods love and put our hope on that He shall solve or remove our
sufferings, then our hope might decay or even become bankrupted completely in
our long and seemingly ceaseless sufferings. This hope is what St. Augustine says
the expected future which based on Gods common grace. The survivors in the
921 earthquake in Taiwan and in the 911 attack in the States are not only
Christians, right? The victims in 921 and in 911 are not only non-Christians, right?
St. Augustine warned Christians not to seek Gods love in the expected future but
in the remembered past. Otherwise what Christians will have sought might not
be Gods love but Satan. What is the remembered past? It is what Romans 5:6-8
say

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good
person someone might actually dare to die.
8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for
us.

Gods love in this remembered past has been demonstrated by Christs action of
dying on the cross for us more than 2,000 years ago and cannot be changed or
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affected by our experiences. This love is Gods special grace that never fails us as
long as we accept it.

When you or your Christian friends or some Christians you heard about, are
suffering from any kind of life difficulties and therefore lose their hope, what
would we usually say is their key problem? In other words, if the situation does not
change, what would the sufferers need most to re-gain their hope? Most people
might say faith. That is absolutely right. Faith is very, very, very important. But
surprisingly, in verse 3-5, is faith mentioned in this producing process?

3b know[ing] that suffering produces endurance,

4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5a and hope does not disappoint us,

Is faith mentioned? No, there is no faith mentioned here.

According to this passage, how can suffering produce hope?

First, 3b says suffering produces endurance. This is what most of us have often
experienced. But did you experience it actively? I believe most of us, including me,
often experienced it passively because we were used to praying that God removes
our sufferings as soon as we suffered. We didnt even want to endure in our
suffering. Then when we were forced to endure passively because God didnt
remove our sufferings in responding our prayer, what did we often pray for? We
prayed even more urgently the same and asked more brothers and sisters praying
for the same, even with a great faith confiding in our expectation that God
promises to remove our sufferings. Didnt we? Dear brothers and sisters, have you
already sensed the problem of our prayer and the direction of our seeking for the
Lord contrasting to the teachings of this passage revealed by God through Apostle
Paul? If God purposefully wants to build up our strong spiritual lives by means of
sufferings, did we often tend to pray against Gods good purpose and plan for us?
God wants our lives to produce endurance through suffering, to produce character
through endurance, and to produce hope through character. Have we identified
this producing process planned by God? I found that the crucial product in this
producing process is character. According to this context and the original Greek
word, the word character here should be rendered as tested character. This is
not a character cultivated by ourselves but a character transformed by God, by the
Holy Spirit, through this producing process, namely suffering and endurance.
Lets read 2 Corinthians 3:17-18:
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17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though
reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree
of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

The work of the Holy Spirit is to transform us into the image of the Lord. But this
transformative work proceeds by the producing process mentioned above.
Therefore, a tested character is very crucial. If we have grasped this truth
revealed by God, when we suffer, we shall pray to God to transform us to a tested
character instead of removing suffering and endurance. Then we would be
bestowed by God this tested character that produces hope. On the other hand, if
we pray to God to remove suffering and endurance when we suffer, then we shall
never be transformed to this tested character that produces hope. For if the
suffering and endurance are removed, would we pray and seek for the tested
character? No, of course not. If the suffering and endurance remain for a long time,
we tend to lose hope and even complain God. Accordingly, we would remain in this
cycle: suffering produces endurance, endurance produces complaint, and then next
time when God prepares another suffering for a new producing process, suffering
again produces endurance, and endurance again produces complaint. The tested
character will never be produced because we in fact always tell God not to bestow
us a tested character but just remove suffering and endurance. In other words, this
kind of prayer implies that we dont want to have a tested character producing
hope or a life producing hope but a life that does not need hope. We often tended to
pray to God for relieving our hearts by removing suffering and endurance rather
than for building up our faith in His special grace through a hope-producing
process, didnt we?

The tested character is produced by our sticking to His special grace, namely the
remembered past, no matter whatever the suffering is and however long the
endurance will last. The hope produced by the tested character will not only
overcome the suffering we endure but will also encourage us to stick to His special
grace even more when suffering comes next time.

But if we focus on the common grace and the expected future, our hope and faith
would fluctuate depending on whether or not and how soon suffering and
endurance are removed. Accordingly, a tested character that produces hope might
not be produced because the faith which is not in His special grace is an illusion
which will sooner or later be disillusioned when thing does not go as we expect.
When suffering and endurance are removed, no tested character is produced.
When suffering and endurance are not removed for a long time, we tend to
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complain and give up praying and so no tested character is produced unless our
prayer turns to His special grace and seeking for a tested character.

A passage from Our Daily Bread (ODB 2017-5-19) on a day last month reads,

A phrase on many parenting websites says, Prepare the child for the road,
not the road for the child. Instead of trying to remove all obstacles and pave
the way for the children in our life, we should instead equip them to deal
with the difficulties they encounter on the road ahead.

Isnt the principle and logic of this parenting philosophy similar to the principle
and logic God reveals through Romans 5:3-5? Isnt it something that both
Christians and non-Christians might agree and adopt? Why is it so difficult for us
to adopt and practice it in our spiritual life formation, growth and maturation?
May the Holy Spirit examine and enlighten our minds and pour into our heart
Gods love and special grace.

Lets pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your amazing love. You died for us on the
cross not only for taking our condemnation, but also, and even more importantly,
for granting us the privilege to be your children and to have your special grace that
only Christians can have. Please forgive us that we have often exchanged your
special grace for the common grace. Please also forgive us that we have seldom
cherished or grasped the opportunities you prepared for transforming our
spiritual lives and bestowing a tested character to produce hope. Thank you for
reminding us through todays Scripture passages of your good purpose and plan,
to grant us a tested character and a more mature life producing hope through a
process of suffering and endurance. Please fill our heart with your special grace
and love so that we can stick to them while facing long suffering and endurance.
Please also change our hearts, in the focus and the direction of our prayers so that
our faith and spiritual lives can be built up in your special grace only. In Jesus
name, we pray, Amen.