Groaning

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 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. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:18-25, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
The eighth chapter of Romans is one of the most glorious passages in all of the Bible. In this marvelous chapter, two main themes repeatedly come to the forefront: suffering and glory. At the heart of the chapter, in verses 18-25, Paul writes about the whole creation groaning, waiting, longing for the revealing of the children of God. Our own personal suffering, which is mentioned in verse 18, is just part of the greater suffering we see all around us.

When we read incredible passages, such as Paul's letter to the Romans, we have a tendency to shrink our reading and understanding into simple terms of "me and my salvation." But to truly understand passages such as this, it's important that we remember there's more at play than our own personal salvation. For Paul, it always starts with God the creator, revealing his power and glory in creation, and it ends with the entire created order set free from its present state of corruption and decay. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so he will one day perform the same act of new creation for the whole world.

That is why Paul can say that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us. At the present moment, the world is in a state of groaning and suffering; and we ourselves, who are Christians, are in the same condition. There are so many things which we long to be and do that, in our present state, we cannot hope to achieve. But one day, when God gives us the renewed bodies that he has promised, we will be released to be and do all those things, just as he will renew the whole of creation.

Paul therefore, speaks, in verse 19, of creation waiting in "eager expectation." This conjures up the image of somebody longing for a friend or a relative to come home. They stare out the window, straining their eyes, watching the horizon to see if there is any sight of their loved one returning. Essentially, Paul is saying that's what the whole of creation is doing as it waits for the day when God's sons and daughters are revealed in their redeemed state. And, then, in verse 20, he adds: "the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it." It was never God's intention that the world should be subjected to decay. God intended his creation to be the beginning of something glorious and beautiful and, ultimately, permanent. But, when sin came into the picture, it brought with it sickness and pain and heartache and death. And, until we humans are made right with God, his beautiful creation cannot be restored to all that he longs it to be. 

But, a day will surely come when all of creation will be set free—the creation will be "liberated from its bondage to decay." God will set his children completely free from the bondage of sin, and thereby invite the whole creation to share in the party—to partake in the "freedom and glory of the children of God." As a good Jew, Paul is thinking of about the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. They were enslaved, but God brought them out of Egypt. He led them through the wilderness, and home to the Promised Land, where they could worship him gladly and freely as he always wanted, and reveal his light and justice to the nations. At the resurrection, God did for Jesus what he did for Israel—bringing him back from the bondage of death itself. And, now, he will do for all of his children, and ultimately for the whole creation, what he did for Jesus.

So, Paul declares in verses 22-23, we know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail until now. Paul paints another vivid picture—this time portraying the image of a mother giving birth, going through the pains of labor—to describe what is happening to the creation. We talk casually of "nature, red in tooth and claw." But Paul sees beyond that, recognizing that creation is not yet all that God intends it to be. He looks for the time when the wolf will lie down with the lamb, and the cow and the bear will feed together, and a child will play at the cobra's den (Isaiah11:6-9; 65:17-25).

And we ourselves, "who have the firstfruits of the Spirit" are in the same attitude of waiting. God has already begun to work his glorious salvation within us. As a result, we realize that there is more in God's purpose for us than we have yet received. So we groan too. We groan inwardly while we wait for the redemption of our bodies, for it was in the hope of this that we were saved. As Paul puts it in another letter: I haven't yet attained this, I am not already perfect, but I "press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Philippians 3:12). We don't hope for that which we already see. We hope for what we do not yet see, and "wait for it patiently."

I love the picture of the church in this passage. We tend to think of the world getting itself into a hopeless mess, and the church going off and hiding in a building somewhere singing God's praises, pretending that all is well with them. But that is not Paul's picture of the church. Paul believes that the church is called to be where the world is in pain, so that, by sharing the pain, the church can be the means through which God himself, by the Spirit, is present even there.

We shouldn't, therefore, think that if the church finds itself—or we find ourselves, individually—in pain on some issue, some problem, some topic, this indicates that we have taken some terrible wrong turn. It might just be that we have been faithful to our calling to groan inwardly because we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Our groaning takes up the groaning of all creation, and brings it mysteriously into the loving and healing presence of God. And if that is true for the church as a whole, it is certainly true for every individual believer as well.


REFLECTIONS:
Father, give us courage and hope, so that as we share the groaning of all creation, we may know your presence with us and trust your promise to renew all things.


WHO AM I?
I am Tres Sansom, and I am groaning for the redemption of my body, aching and longing for the time when my salvation is complete. But, even more, I am longing for the day in which God makes all things new, all things whole, all things good—the day when God restores all things to their intended beauty.