1. Present Suffering and Future Glory
In Romans 8:18, the Apostle Paul declares, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Interpreting this passage, Pastor David Jang emphasizes that the suffering Christians experience and the glory of God are like two sides of the same coin. One cannot speak of glory without suffering, and the glory that we speak of is not something that completely excludes or ignores suffering. Rather, it is the honor and holiness of God that we gain after passing through suffering. As indicated by the phrase “not worth comparing,” there is a stark difference in value between our present sufferings and the glory to come. From a human perspective, current hardships appear overwhelmingly heavy, but within God’s plan of salvation, even that suffering is exceedingly light in comparison to the glory yet to be revealed.
In many of his sermons and lectures, Pastor David Jang often explains the source of Paul’s conviction about this “future glory.” In other words, “Paul’s strong experience of and trust in the love of Christ, along with his faith in God’s promise for the future, form the basis of his certainty.” Indeed, in Romans 8, Paul teaches that we must acknowledge suffering and pain as inseparable from God’s children, yet he simultaneously proclaims that suffering is by no means our ruin or despair. When Paul confidently states that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,” he is not dismissing the magnitude of our hardships. Rather, his assurance arises from the belief that “the future glory is so much greater and more splendid that no matter how severe the current suffering might be, it is minimal in comparison.”
In real life, the suffering we endure often looks like “hopeless toil.” But Pastor David Jang says, “Christians endure a hardship that still has a future and a promise.” Until the day comes when suffering completely disappears, we inevitably face countless pains and difficulties. However, we persevere in the certainty that God’s glory will surely unfold in the end. This is one of the core tenets of the gospel promised by Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). The blessing descends upon the place of suffering that a believer must endure, in ways that the world cannot comprehend, and in the future, there is an even more definitive glory to be given.
The “reward faith” that Paul speaks of is on a completely different plane than any worldly compensation. God’s assurance that He will certainly bless those who are persecuted for doing good and for being righteous in the name of Christ implies that the ultimate moment of “glory” belongs to God. Pastor David Jang has repeatedly taught that Christians living a life of faith should not fix their gaze only on “small blessings or material prosperity” enjoyed in this world, but rather keep in view the heavenly glory that we all will ultimately enter. Such a perspective changes how we interpret our immediate troubles. Our visible pain, financial hardship, persecution, discrimination, health problems, and broken relationships do not exist to destroy us; rather, they can become instruments that allow us to more clearly see the glory we will someday enjoy.
While explaining Romans 8, Pastor David Jang underscores that Paul truly grasps the “meaning of suffering given for the sake of glory.” Paul himself, prior to encountering Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, was someone who consciously and religiously believed he was “in the right,” laboring diligently based on his own convictions. However, after realizing the meaning of Christ’s cross and resurrection, all his former Jewish zeal and knowledge became akin to rubbish in his eyes (Philippians 3:8), and he became a person who did not hesitate to suffer for Christ. Once Paul came to know Christ and discovered glory in Him, neither the temptations of the world nor its persecutions could break him.
The hope Paul stresses in Romans 8 is not a mere “mental victory” aimed at avoiding our present difficulties. Pastor David Jang describes it like this: “The future God has planned for our lives is not simply a happy ending, but a glorious position shared with God’s children.” Therefore, no matter how little prosperity we enjoy in this world, and even if from the secular viewpoint our lives appear to be failures, believers can still look ahead to the abundant, heavenly glory. For this reason, we should not reduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to a mere ethic or morality; we must open our eyes to the vast and cosmic plan of salvation contained within it. This is what Pastor David Jang teaches repeatedly.
From verse 19 onward, Paul explains what creation itself longs for: “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (Romans 8:19). Pastor David Jang places great importance on the nuance of the Greek term behind “eager expectation (apokaradokia).” Apokaradokia (ἀποκαραδοκία) denotes “waiting earnestly, straining one’s neck in anticipation, longing painfully in the midst of suffering.” It is like a child who cannot sleep the night before a picnic, or someone who sits by the window through the long night, waiting for dawn and saying, “When will the light break?” Written in Chinese characters, it becomes “苦待” (go-dae)—waiting in pain.
Paul says that creation itself experiences this kind of painful waiting. Typically, we think of people as the ones who “wait,” but here the subject is “creation.” Nature and the entire universe are eagerly longing for the appearance of those restored in Christ, namely the children of God. This refers to “cosmic salvation.” In Genesis 3:17, we read that because of man’s fall, the ground was cursed: “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.” Thus, the world God originally created in beauty was broken by human sin. Because humans, who were meant to be stewards, sinned, they could not care for or manage nature properly; instead, they became tyrannical and oppressed it.
Observing large-scale environmental destruction inflicted by humanity, Pastor David Jang points out that “human wickedness does not stop at moral crimes—it even causes creation to groan.” Environmental problems, destruction of ecosystems, and climate change around the globe clearly show the consequences of human greed and arrogance. The earth, which was supposed to be maintained beautifully under God’s love, is now dying under humanity’s misguided domination. As a result, creation can no longer live as it wishes but is “subjected to frustration” (Romans 8:20). Yet Paul maintains that all this destruction and groaning do not represent an “eternal conclusion.” There is One who allows it to be so. This means God is restraining nature from unleashing its retributive power to annihilate humanity, telling creation, “Just hold on a bit longer,” and sustaining all things.
Pastor David Jang remarks that, no matter how much humans try to control nature with their abilities and technology, in many cases they are helpless against its power. “Nature contains a force far greater than humanity,” he says, “but unless God permits it, nature does not fully unleash its power of judgment.” This aligns with Paul’s claim 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 8:21). Though creation is fallen due to humanity’s fall, creation too ardently longs for the world that will one day be restored.
At this point, we see more concretely the future that Paul envisions. Pastor David Jang teaches that the cosmic salvation hinted at in Romans 8 and the depiction of the “New Jerusalem” in Revelation 21 are two expressions of the same image. The perfect world God originally created was broken by the Fall, but in the end, it will be restored to a glorious, redeemed state. This restored world is a place overflowing with “the freedom and glory of the children of God,” and in that place, all creation will share in the joy.
Pastor David Jang calls this climax in Revelation the “Grand Finale.” No tragedy or despair in history will have the final say. Ultimately, it concludes with God seated on His throne declaring, “Behold, I am making all things new!” (Revelation 21:5). Because of this vast vision of salvation, Christians can hold onto ultimate hope even amid present confusion and suffering. Pastor David Jang explains that the overarching message of the entire Bible is “God, humanity, and all creation becoming one, returning to a perfect world where heaven and earth overlap.” Theologically speaking, the prophecies of the Old Testament meet the eschatology of the New Testament, culminating in the “Kingdom of God.”
Inevitably, Paul’s message connects the cosmic scope of salvation with individual salvation. In Romans 8:23, Paul says, “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.” This longing is not merely about the salvation of our souls but includes the salvation of our bodies. Pastor David Jang constantly stresses the importance of the “body” in Scripture. For him, “body”refers both to our physical flesh and to the church as “the Body of Christ.” When we unite in the church community and move toward the love and holiness that Christ our Head desires, the church is built up—this process is part of “the redemption of our body.”
Consequently, in Romans 8:24, Paul states, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” Pastor David Jang unpacks here the theological concept of “already” and “not yet.”Salvation has already come upon us, yet it is not yet complete. From the moment we believe in Jesus Christ and receive the Holy Spirit, we have the gift of salvation. However, because the final and perfect form of God’s kingdom has not yet been realized on earth, we remain in this “not yet” state, still waiting expectantly. Within this tension, believers anticipate the future glory today by faith, persevering in the here and now.
When preaching on this passage, Pastor David Jang often connects it with Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Through faith, the promised kingdom of God and all that is yet unseen can be experienced and lived out in the present moment. Therefore, even in suffering we can rejoice, in persecution we can endure, and in desperate circumstances we can remain certain. Paul and countless other respected figures of faith throughout history have lived by this conviction, and Pastor David Jang likewise reaffirms throughout his ministry the perspective: “Believers conquer the present by anticipating future glory.”
Moreover, Pastor David Jang urges that we must not limit salvation merely to “the salvation of the individual soul.” The core of Romans 8 transcends human sinfulness and expands to a universal scale. In Christ, all creation is restored; nature is renewed and finds its rightful place. God, humanity, and nature unite to form His kingdom, which is the final scene of salvation. After Paul has extensively explained salvation throughout Romans, he turns in the latter part of chapter 8 to emphasize “the groaning of creation” and “the world that will be restored.” Thus, when we grasp both the “personal aspect” and “cosmic aspect” of salvation, we escape a human-centered narrowness and participate in God’s vast, beautiful plan.
Therefore, Pastor David Jang calls attention to the keyword “the kingdom of God.” The final verse of Acts states, “He (Paul) proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (Acts 28:31). This shows that throughout his ministry, Paul’s central message was “the kingdom of God.”This was equally true when Jesus proclaimed the gospel, and our own Lord’s Prayer can be summarized with the phrase, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Thus, Paul’s ministry, Jesus’ teaching, and the tradition of the early church all converge on the conclusion of “God’s kingdom.”
Pastor David Jang insists that “the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ” is the essence of the entire New Testament, and our eschatology ultimately aims for the coming of that kingdom. Sometimes, the church deals with the end times by emphasizing “fearful judgment,” or it becomes excessively entangled in worldly hopes that cater to earthly desires. Both approaches miss the grand and beautiful conclusion of salvation described in Scripture. The overarching biblical message is a radiant prospect of “a holy, new world”—the kingdom of God. Various attempts at secular utopias throughout history may have tried to imitate biblical hope but often distorted it, eventually exposing their limitations and passing away. By contrast, if we firmly cling to the “new heaven and new earth” revealed in Scripture, we will not succumb to faulty eschatology or nihilism, but instead live our lives with genuine hope. This, according to Pastor David Jang, is the true biblical perspective.
Romans 8 concludes this segment with a single exhortation: “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25). Pastor David Jang has often highlighted the importance of “patience” here. Patience is not passively enduring suffering without purpose; it is an active, mature faith that seizes on future glory to endure the present. Just as a farmer sows seeds and labors until the harvest, we sow seeds of the gospel in the field of life, sometimes with tears and sometimes with joy, cultivating it day by day. By persevering, we will partake in the glory that God has prepared.
2. The Groaning of Creation and the Help of the Holy Spirit
Moving on to Romans 8:26–27, Paul guides readers into the realm of prayer: “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”(Romans 8:26). Pastor David Jang says that the essence of prayer begins with acknowledging our weakness. In other words, prayer can only be done by someone who realizes, “I am not a being capable of solving everything on my own; I am weak, ignorant of the future, and cannot hold out without God’s help.”
Sometimes people ask, “Why should we pray?” Those who value human intelligence might dismiss prayer as mere self-comfort. But the Bible and theology say otherwise. Prayer is not merely a tool for psychological stability; it is a pathway through which we participate in the Almighty God and ask for His intervention. Pastor David Jang focuses on the part where Paul frankly admits, “We do not know what we ought to pray for.” Because of sin, our judgment is clouded, and we may not even know what to ask for. But the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. The word “helps” indicates that the Spirit lifts us up and, even if our prayers are lacking and distorted, He “intercedes” and presents them to God on our behalf.
To grasp the concept of “the Spirit’s intercession,” Pastor David Jang explains that we need to view it in conjunction with the mediating work Jesus Christ performed between us and God. First Timothy 2:5 declares, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” Since our prayers originate from sinful human lips, they can never reach God on their own. But Jesus opened the way through the blood of His cross, enabling us to boldly approach God’s throne in His name (Hebrews 10:19). After Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon the church, allowing us to enjoy daily the very salvation Christ accomplished. The Holy Spirit is not merely some “vague religious feeling” within us; He fully understands both God’s will and our circumstances, so He “supplements” our prayers to align with “the will of God.”
Pastor David Jang stresses the need to ponder deeply the phrase “the Spirit intercedes for us”—“with groans that words cannot express.” When we pray, for example, “Give me this, solve that,” we cannot be certain whether those requests align with what we truly need or whether they fit into God’s good plan. But because the Spirit knows our innermost being and precisely understands God’s good will, He intercedes for us with “groans,” an urgent, fervent expression. This is reminiscent of Old Testament prophets who groaned over the sins and destruction of the people (Ezekiel 21:6, etc.), but it is far more intimate and powerful. The Spirit dwells in us, “groaning as though His back is breaking,” crying out for us. Hence, even our deficient prayers, through the Spirit’s supplementation and mediation, reach the throne of God.
“He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit” (Romans 8:27) summarizes the essence of prayer. We do not receive answers because we use fancy words or rhetorical flair. Rather, “He who searches our hearts”—God—knows the mind of the Spirit, and because the Spirit intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will, the prayers are answered.Pastor David Jang describes this as “the pathway of grace opened by Jesus Christ’s work, now lovingly supported by the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us.” Therefore, believers do not lose hope in prayer. Even if our prayers are misguided, the Holy Spirit corrects them, supplements what we fail to confess, and leads us to fulfill God’s will.
Here, Pastor David Jang highlights “the admission of our weakness” and “the complete reliance on the Spirit’s work” as the crucial attitudes in prayer. By nature, humans cannot foresee the future. No matter how wise or experienced we think we are, we often fail to see even an inch ahead. Recall the ancient Chinese story of “Sai Ong’s horse,” in which misfortune becomes blessing and blessings become misfortune. Ultimately, we do not know whether something is truly good or bad at the time it happens. Thus, “we do not know what we ought to pray for”—this acknowledgment of our position is the starting point of true prayer. It is not “I can do it” self-confidence, but rather, “I cannot do it” desperation, and at the same time, “Yet God can do it” faith.
Pastor David Jang adds, “Because we live in the age of the Holy Spirit, the church need no longer remain cut off from God due to our sins, as was true in Old Testament times.” Jesus’ cross and resurrection have eliminated the barrier of sin, and with the coming of the Holy Spirit, we can now experience “God with us” in our everyday lives. This amazing grace is grounded in the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ the Mediator, and the fruit of that mediation is manifested in us as “the Holy Spirit, who ever lives to intercede for us” (Hebrews 7:24–25). Realizing this, prayer can no longer be a mechanical religious duty or mere formality. Our prayers connect with the unfathomable dimension of “the Spirit’s groaning,” linking us to the cosmic plan of salvation, transforming prayer into a powerful medium.
From this contextual reading of Romans 8:18–27, two primary lessons stand out. First, in the contrast between “present sufferings and the glory to be revealed,” we see how firm the Christian hope truly is. Second, although creation groans and we ourselves groan, “the Spirit, with groanings that cannot be uttered,” intercedes for us, guiding us ultimately to glorious freedom and complete salvation. Pastor David Jang says that this reveals both Paul’s “vision of cosmic salvation” and the driving force for a life connected to prayer. If we do not remain alert in prayer, it is easy to become discouraged or captive to worldly values amid the entanglements of daily life. Recognizing and depending on “the Spirit who intercedes for us” keeps our prayers—though they may seem clumsy and powerless—aligned with God’s good purpose, enabling Him to work powerfully.
Summarizing it all, Romans 8:18–27 teaches that our present suffering does not impede “glory” and our weakness does not hinder “prayer.” The Apostle Paul was someone who, after being reborn in Jesus Christ as a new creation, left his past behind and did not grow weary even in the face of severe persecution and tribulation. The secret of his strength did not come from himself but from Jesus Christ and the help of the Holy Spirit. Pastor David Jang urges today’s church and believers to keep this truth constantly in mind. We still face suffering everywhere, plenty of reasons to groan, and we feel our weakness even in prayer. Yet once we cling to hope, that hope unceasingly carries us into “new levels of faith.”
Pastor David Jang interprets “hope” for Christians not as a naive optimism that overlooks or covers up reality, but as a “firm future awareness rooted in the certainty of salvation already declared through Jesus’ cross and resurrection.”Consequently, he proclaims that present injustices, persecutions, and sorrows are not eternal but will yield to an even greater glory. And even when we do not know what we ought to pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us personally, so we are able to maintain a posture of gratitude and praise rather than despair.
Whenever Pastor David Jang preaches on Romans 8, he stresses, “We do not surrender to futility because we firmly believe that God is working through all these processes to bring about salvation and restoration.” Believing that God governs a moral universe does not instantly resolve every chaos or contradiction at the micro level of history, but at the macro level, it compels us to look ahead to God who will ultimately bring everything to righteousness and goodness. Thus, when Romans 8 speaks of “we were saved in hope,” that salvation is both “already begun within believers,” “still ongoing,” and “certain to be completed.”
While we remain in this world, we continue to experience lack and failure, and nature itself may harm us at times or groan due to the consequences of our sin. However, if we maintain the attitude of “patient waiting,” eventually we will partake in the glory that befits that final day. Having no doubt about this, we embrace a faith that is drawn from the future, and we integrate it into our present reality through prayer—this is precisely what Pastor David Jang teaches the church must strive to practice today. Just as Paul situates the pinnacle of his doctrine of salvation within a cosmic vision and the Spirit’s ministry of prayer, we too, as “children of God,” should hope alongside creation that groans, and at the same time devote ourselves to unceasing prayer in the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:18–27 is a crucial passage not only in the context of the Epistle as a whole but also for the entire Bible. It does not remain merely theoretical in its doctrines or theology; it provides concrete guidance to believers struggling with life’s hardships, showing “why we must endure, where we can find hope, and how we ought to pray.” Whenever Pastor David Jang expounds on this text, he frequently repeats that “we live in the era of the Holy Spirit, so we are never alone; even when we cannot endure suffering ourselves, the Spirit’s groaning embraces us.” And he reminds us that behind Paul’s statement “I die every day” (1 Corinthians 15:31) lies his complete trust in the Holy Spirit.
Our remaining task is how to apply this great assurance and promise to everyday life. Pastor David Jang typically offers three concrete suggestions. First, when facing hardship, do not merely regard it as something you want to escape but interpret it as a means to see the coming glory even more clearly. Second, when witnessing the groaning of creation, recall God’s command to care for nature as kind stewards, and live in a way that values life and preserves the environment. Third, acknowledge your own weakness and seek the Holy Spirit’s help each day—above all, never abandon your prayer life. Approach God boldly in the name of Jesus Christ, trusting in the Spirit’s intercession, and maintain a submissive spirit.
This is the underlying reason why Paul declares, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us,” and why he calls our salvation “hope.” Paradoxically, we were “saved in hope.” To Paul, this hope was neither a fantasy nor an illusion—it was grounded in the cross and resurrection, which have already proven their reality. Hence, he could build the church with this glorious hope, preach the gospel, and even while being imprisoned or beaten, he could still rejoice and praise. In his exposition of Romans 8, Pastor David Jang points out how Paul’s entire theology of the cross and the power of the resurrection culminate in “this future glory and the Spirit’s ministry of prayer.” He then advises modern Christians to apply the same principle in our daily lives.
Romans 8:18–27 encompasses both “universal salvation” and “personal salvation.” Creation groans, reflecting the ongoing pain in our world, and we too are not exempt from pain. But we look beyond all these limitations and trust in God who will eventually create a new heaven and a new earth. With that conviction, we persist in prayer, aided by the Holy Spirit. Summarizing Pastor David Jang’s messages, the key teaching of this passage is: “Believe God’s promise, endure with hope, and do not miss out on the grace of the Spirit’s intercession on our behalf.” In so doing, none of our present sufferings will end in meaningless pain, creation’s groaning will ultimately converge on God’s kingdom, and we will march confidently toward a “future glory beyond comparison.”