Present Suffering and Future Glory (Romans 8:18-39)

Key Verse: "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Rom 8:18).

1. How did Paul view present sufferings and future glory (Rom 8:18)? What does the creation expect (Rom 8:19)? Why does creation suffer (Rom 8:20; Gen 3:17-18)? For what does it groan in hope (Rom 8:21-22)?
2. Read Rom 8:23. How does Paul describe believers? For what do we groan inwardly (Php 3:20-21)? What is our true hope and how does it enable us to wait patiently (Rom 8:24-25; Jn 16:33))?
3. What are our weaknesses, and how do they affect our prayer (Rom 8:26a; 7:18-20)? Who helps us and how (Rom 8:26b-27; 1 Cor 2:10-14)? Why is the Spirit's intercessory prayer effective?
4. What conviction do believers have, and on what basis (Rom 8:28)? What is the good which God works for (Rom 8:29-30)? How does Paul describe the process of God's work in a believer's life?
5. What does Paul emphasize in his rhetorical questions in Rom 8:31-35? What problems do we confront and how can we overcome them?
6. How should believers regard sufferings (Rom 8:36)? What does it mean to be "more than conquerors" (Rom 8:37)? Who tries to separate us from God's love, and why can they not (Rom 8:38-39)?