Does New Creation Mean Instant Healing?

Something in us knows the world is not quite right, and Romans 8 gives that feeling a name: groaning. We sit with Paul’s honest picture of suffering, longing, and the “bondage of corruption,” then trace the surprising thread of hope running through it all. The promise is not that life suddenly becomes easy, but that glory is coming and redemption is real, including the redemption of our bodies. 

We also engage a modern cultural story that raises a hard question about identity, gender, and the desire for wholeness. Instead of treating these struggles as isolated issues, we place gender dysphoria, same-sex sexual attraction, and every other form of inner conflict inside the Bible’s larger storyline of creation, fall, and restoration. The gospel invitation from 2 Corinthians 5:17 stands at the center: in Christ, you can be a new creation, even while you still live in a broken world and feel the ache of what is not yet healed. 

From there we press into practical theology: how to “groan with hope,” how to wait without denial, and how the Holy Spirit renews the mind (Romans 8:5–6) so we can evaluate feelings and cultural claims with clarity. We hear the command of Romans 12:2 to resist being conformed to the world, and we end with God’s promise to change hearts (Ezekiel 36:26–27), replacing a heart of stone with a heart that loves him and walks in his ways. 

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Transcript

Ministry Mission And Series Setup

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You're listening to Foundations of Truth, the Bible-teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Each week, Dr. Timothy Mann opens the Bible to bring clarity, conviction, and encouragement for everyday life. Today on Foundations of Truth, we continue the series Define Design with part one of the message of better future. Here now is Dr. Timothy Mann.

Romans 8 And Present Suffering

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Romans chapter 8, verse 18. Bible says, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. Because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption and to the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pains together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope. For why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. This is God's word. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our Lord stands forever.

A Culture Story That Raises Questions

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A 2016 issue of Time Magazine featured an essay by Jesse Hempel telling the heart-wrenching story of her brother Evan giving birth to a son. Now that sentence might catch you off guard. If it didn't, I'll say it again slowly. A 2016 issue of Time magazine featured an essay of Jesse Hempel telling the heart-wrenching story of her brother, Evan, giving birth to a son. The photo the story features shows what looks like a man breastfeeding an infant son. Titled My Brother's Pregnancy and the Making of a New American Family, Hempill recounts how her sister underwent a male to female transition at age nineteen, but still desired to give birth, and did so at age thirty-five. She describes that long-ago transition that included testosterone injections daily, producing thick hair over her sister's knuckles. And at that time, Evan elected not to have breast removal surgery, thus making it possible for what is called in that community chest feeding. Now the story is not without several painful admissions. Recounting how they once looked alike, Hempel laments the loss of her sister's feminine appearance. And at one point, Hempel observes that Evan, while pregnant, experienced a, and I quote, traumatizing disconnect between his masculinity and the female attributes of his body. And she asks a question in the article that really frames how Christians should begin to think about these issues. And I quote the article. She writes, What if you were born into a female body, know or at least perceive that you are a man, and still want to participate in the traditionally exclusive right of motherhood? What kind of man are you then? What kind of man are you then?

New Creation Hope For Brokenness

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I believe that question touches on a pursuit that every person knows. And that is the search for resolution and satisfaction, for a life of stability, without heartache or alienation, or disconnect. It's understandable that Evan would assume that it's that it's only by following our feelings that we can find this. Understandable, but very incorrect. As Evan, according to Jesse's article, discovered through personal experience. And as she wants to be called Evan, found in life what we saw a few sermons ago, and it's this. That is that you don't break free from the effects of the fall of man and the curse of sin by following the path of the fall and curse of sin in your own life and in on your in your own decisions. You don't break free that way. Is there hope for individuals like Evan? Can those who face the same kind of struggles find wholeness and experience psychological relief, bodily relief, and emotional relief? Given the reality of the fall and the curse, is there good news for us? Regardless of what brokenness each person experiences, and regardless of what identities we embrace, is there good news for us? And I would say to you what God's Word says. Yes, there is. The Bible's message to the person struggling with gender identity issues, same-sex sexual attraction issues is the same for the person struggling with envy or depression or anything else. And that is according to 2 Corinthians 5.17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. Here is the offer that God holds out to every single one of us. This is it. This is the offer that he holds out to every single one of us, every single one of you. You can be a new creation. That's the offer. You can be a new creation. Now, to become a new creation in Christ does not mean that the world we live in or the bodies we inhabit or the minds we think with will be totally freed or completely healed in this world. It doesn't mean that. To be a new creation in Christ is to experience the promises of what fully awaits those who have placed their trust in him. To be a new creation in Christ means to be able to anticipate the certainty of a coming day when the disorder of creation is put back together, when dysphoria of any kind is replaced with euphoria of every kind. That's what it means to be a new creation in Christ. To be a new creation is to know why the world is the way it is. To be a new creation is to know why our bodies are the way they are, and why our minds think as they do. To be a new creation in Christ is to be equipped with the power of God's Holy Spirit to live in a right relationship with God. That's what it means to be a new creation. A new creation in Christ recognizes that even with broken minds, living in broken bodies, living in a broken world, that there is a definitive and clear, very good blueprint of creation. And this is it. A new creation in Christ has ceased to belong to this old fallen world even as they live in it. For they are walking toward the full newness of a renewed, reperfected world. The fall of man, the disobeying of God's commands, and the curse of sin affects our hearts, it affects our minds, and it affects our bodies. We live in a broken creation marred by sin. But wonderfully, praise God. We sang about it a few minutes ago, and I was moved with happy tears. Praise God, this is not the final state of this world that we just read about a few minutes ago in Romans chapter 8, verses 18 through 25. Let your eyes go back there. I want you to look again at Romans chapter 8, verses 18 through 25. I want to do a little bit of exposition on that before we continue.

Listener Support And Ministry Partnership

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Thank you for listening to Foundations of Truth. Our program is made possible through faithful listeners like you who believe biblical truth should be proclaimed clearly, compassionately, and without apology. Your prayers encourage this ministry and your financial partnership helps bring down biblical teaching to thousands of listeners through radio, podcasts, and digital outreach. If the Lord is using this ministry in your life, would you prayerfully consider supporting our work? You can give a gift securely online at foundationsoftruth.net. That's foundationsoftruth.net. Now let's return to today's message. Part one of a better future. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

Redemption Of The Body Explained

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I want us to focus on that word redemption. Look at verse 23. Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit. Who's that? That's Christians. That's believers. Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. Your body's not redeemed. Waiting for the redemption of our body. Now that word redemption, a simple definition, that means the act of being set free. Redemption means the act of being set free. It's a release from the, and I quote verse 21, from the bondage of corruption. It's a release from the bondage of corruption, as it says in verse 21. And so as he writes to those who are new creations, living in this broken creation, the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, now did you notice this? Pay attention. He did not do that. They are experienced simultaneously. Suffering and redemption are experienced simultaneously because redemption is an eternal promise that is broken into the present, but is not yet fulfilled in the present. A Christian is free to look beyond, to look beyond all that makes them groan. But right now they're not free from what makes them groan. Now there's several truths in this passage of great significance. We are in this series, Divine Design, dealing with gender, sexuality, marriage in the Bible, and other issues related to that. So there are several truths in this passage of great significance for someone who experiences gender dysphoria, same-sex sexual attraction, or for any other painful thing we all experience. Several truths right here in this passage.

The World Groans And We Groan

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First of all, this passage that we read reminds us that the world around us groans. The world around us groans. And so this sense of trauma, this sense of alienation, this sense of discomfort that results from any kind of dysphoria has an explanation. And the biblical explanation is this a world under sin's curse. That's the explanation. We live in a world under sin's curse. That's the first thing this passage teaches us that the world around us groans. The second truth that this passage teaches us is that we ourselves groan. We ourselves groan. Now the Bible is narrowing its focus here. It isn't just this abstract idea of creation is groaning, but we all are subject, even Christians. We all are subject to groaning because not all is well within us or around us. The third truth, though, that this passage teaches us, assures us of, is that we are assured, as followers of Jesus, that our groans are not forever. They are not eternal. Both God's creation and everyone who is a new creation. That's only those who are in Christ. Both God's creation and everyone who is a new creation are heading toward ultimate hope and ultimate glory. There is a way to groan with hope. Because one day we'll all be set free. We await, this passage says, we await the redemption of our bodies at the moment when all of creation is set free from its bondage to corruption and everything is put right. There is a way back to Eden. There is a way back to the perfect world. That's not what, that is not where creation is now, but that is where creation is heading. The arc of history, ladies and gentlemen, bends toward hope. Bends toward hope. Now we've been discussing gender dysphoria, what the Bible has to say about homosexuality. And both of those issues have pain, anguish, and tears related to them. Often it is a deep, painful struggle. But those are not the only struggle. The whole world struggles. The whole world. And if you say you don't, you're a liar. You're a phony. You're a fake. You struggle in here, you struggle in here. You doubt God's goodness at times. You seek to push him off his throne, and you run your life your way. We all struggle. We all struggle. The whole world struggles. The whole world cries out one way or another. And sometimes in many ways. But the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that those groans have been heard, and those groans need not last. As adopted sons and daughters of God, our gnawing sense of despair about the world and about ourselves is met with a promise that someday, someday, thank God, someday, God is going to renew creation. That's the promise. So not only will the feelings of dysphoria be removed, but all the conditions that give rise to dysphoria in the first place will be eradicated as well.

Waiting For Freedom Without Denial

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Now the gospel does not promise that any of us will experience this freedom, this sense of wholeness and rightness completely right now. We're waiting. That's what the scripture said. We're waiting. Which means a person with dysphoria, which by the way, if you don't know what that term means, it's the opposite of euphoria. Dysphoria is a state of unease. It's a state of restlessness. It's a state of anxiousness or even depression. So we're waiting, which means the person with dysphoria may never know a life apart from dysphoria until God restores creation. They may not know it until Christ brings them to heaven or returns to bring heaven to earth. But they will know it. So the Bible acknowledges how things are, even in the deepest, darkest moments. But it also promises that we need not be left there. God's word teaches us to groan, but to groan with hope, to acknowledge the brokenness and to cling to the escape from the brokenness that God has provided. And though the brokenness does not stop as soon as we let our groans lead us to faith in Jesus, but the Spirit of God does start to make a difference if you're truly saved, if you become a new creation in Christ, the Spirit of God does start to make a difference to the way we live with and even think about the brokenness.

The Spirit Renews How We Think

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One way that he does, the Spirit of God, is to begin to bring clarity to our minds. You're in Romans chapter 8. Just turn back a page. Romans chapter 8, I want us to look at verses 5 and 6. Romans chapter 8, verses 5 and 6. So one way the Spirit of God begins to make a difference to the way we live with and think about the brokenness is by bringing clarity to our minds. Look in Romans chapter 8, verses 5 and 6. It says this for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. That is to say, they set their minds on the things of the Spirit. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. So the term the flesh here is a way of describing the way this world works, in which we focus on the desires we experience and live them out. That's living according to the flesh. That's thinking according to the flesh. This is my desire. I'm going to focus on it, and I'm going to live it out. Faith in Christ offers a different way. A completely different way. See, to experience, this is the different way. To experience God's Spirit actually enabling us to live with our minds set on his things, to live with our minds set on his truth. To live with our minds set on his discernment and on his wisdom. In other words, our thinking is no longer stuck in the grooves of a fallen mind. So for instance, look back over at verses 22 and 23. Romans 8, 22 and 23 says, For we know, everybody say no. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pains together until now. Not only that, we also, we could say, we also know that we who have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. See, the Spirit in bringing clarity to our minds, the Spirit of God enables us to know the predicament that creation and humanity are in. It is He, the Spirit of God, who helps us to think. I am groaning, but I'm also waiting for a time when I will no longer groan. That's how he helps us to think. He teaches us to view our bodies as broken but valuable. He also teaches us to view our lives and our bodies as part of a blueprint that we did not draw, that you don't have the right to change. The Spirit helps us to see what is true. The Spirit helps us to see not only what is true, but that what is true is good. And knowing that it's true and knowing that it's good, he helps us to see that even as our feelings or our flesh tells us something different. Now, in some ways. Having our minds set by the Spirit and having our minds set on the Spirit can actually make things harder for the Christian because it awakens us, and I'm gonna need a good amen right here, it awakens us to the reality that we're engaged in a spiritual battle. Can I get a witness? I mean, let's be honest. Think about it. If I could just indulge my lust rather than battling it, life would be easier. I mean, if I could just vent my anger all the time rather than seeking to combat it with patience and compassion and love, life would be less tiring. But it would also be less satisfying than living in line with God's plan. And so with this renewed mind, it becomes possible. I'm telling you, with this renewed mind, it becomes possible to rightly evaluate our own feelings and rightly evaluate the opinions of the culture with this renewed mind.

Refusing Conformity Through Renewed Minds

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You're in Romans, turn over to Romans 12. Take a right, flip a few pages. Romans 12. Romans chapter 12, verse 2. Romans chapter 12, verse 2. And this is a command, by the way. It's not an option, it's not a suggestion, it's not a if you feel like it or if you get around to it. This is a command. Christian, are you listening? This is a command. Verse 2. And do not be conformed to this world. Do not be conformed to this world. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Our mind has to be renewed all the time. And so what happens here is how the Spirit of God works in our mind is this. God actually reorders how we reason. He reorders our logic. If we're having our mind renewed by the Spirit through the Word. Why? Because that's insanity. It's not possible. He changes your mind. He renews your

God Gives A New Heart

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mind. And as well as renewing our minds, the Spirit changes our hearts. The Spirit changes our hearts. Your inner man. Six centuries before the life and death and resurrection of his son Jesus, God promised that. That he would change our hearts as a result of the coming of his son. Ezekiel 36, verse 26 and 27. This is his promise. He says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them. This is God's promise about what happens when someone truly becomes a Christian. Not about what happens sometime later on, some stage after you become a Christian. This is what happens when a person becomes a Christian. A heart of stone in this passage is describing the heart that most loves something other than God, hard toward God, loves something else, much more than it loves God. A heart of flesh is one that is alive to God, which loves God, in which therefore obeys God.

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Thank you for listening to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Van. If you'd like to hear this message again and to receive additional biblical resources and to support this ministry, visit us online. Foundationsoftruth.net. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever.