Romans 8:18-27 (NIV)
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Paul continues to follow his argument from the previous paragraph. If we are coheirs with Jesus, then our future is going to be glorious beyond measure, far beyond anything that we can imagine. As such, the glory we are destined to receive will make the trials and tribulations, and even the persecutions that we go through in this life, diminish into insignificance.
But it is not just us who have a spectacular future in store. All creation will be restored, recreated, to set it right again. The very creation was warped and twisted by the sin of Adam and Eve, and Paul paints it almost as a person, just as frustrated with its inherited imperfection as many people are with their own. But even though creation groans under the pain and frustration of its brokenness, God will restore it in the last days to what it was designed to be before sin damaged it.
Paul likens the groaning of creation with our own groaning as we wait to be totally freed from the brokenness of the world and from the curse of death. But that hope, unrealized yet, but a sure promise, will come true for all those who trust in Jesus. It was this realized hope that Paul had written about to the Church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 4:7-5:5).
The proof that God will keep His promise to His people is the Holy Spirit living in us. He serves as a kind of down payment, the first fruits of God’s kingdom. He makes the kingdom real in the hearts of all who trust in Jesus, just as God will make it real in our physical bodies when Jesus returns. And He does even more than that. When we are hurting and confused, when we don’t know what to pray for, and can only groan in agony over what is happening in our lives and in the world, the Holy Spirit Himself brings the greatest needs of our hearts before the throne of God, interceding for us, and putting into words that which we can’t fully express ourselves. What a blessing!
Father, it really does get discouraging sometimes to have aching bodies, especially as we get older and the scars start to pile up. But it really does help knowing that You have better things both for us, and for our bodies, when everything here is finished. How amazing it will be to have resurrection bodies like Jesus had, bodies that don’t hurt and that can do whatever needs to be done, and that will last through all eternity. Help us as we face our challenges today, to keep our eyes on You and to trust in You for all that the future holds. Amen.