| Romans 8:23-25 "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." The second kind of groaning Paul mentioned here is the one from the believers. Why would the believers groan? This kind of groaning is not from sorrow, but rather it's from the inner struggle with the hope that is bound to come true yet still unaccomplished. Christians should be very familiar with such struggles; when we accepted Jesus as our personal savior, we already received the status as son of God. Although we can experience the grace of Father God while on earth, we after have never been completely released from the bondage of our body. Although in status we can already sit on the throne with the Lord, on earth we still have to face spiritual warfare. There's a theological term to describe our situation - "already and not yet." Although we have received the promise, we can only completely enjoy the promise when the Lord returns, and that's Paul said in this passage that we still "wait eagerly for our adoption as sons. " Paul didn't mean that we have not received the status yet; we have indeed received the status as God's son, but we are still waiting for the redemption of our body. When the Lord returns, our bodies will changed to be like the resurrected body of Christ. Therefore, we are groaning because we are responding to the state of "already and not yet." This is not a sad and hopeless groaning, but we are actually filled with hope and joy because we have the concrete hope that the Lord will come back. Brothers and sisters, do you have such beautiful hope inside? Although we sometimes are in the state of groaning and we experience battle between our soul and body, do we still have such glorious hope inside? Yes, the Lord will return, and when He returns we will become like Him. We will sit on the throne with Him forever, and such hope should be the momentum for our daily life. 
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu Lord, may you become the glorious hope inside us. No matter what our circumstance is today, may your turn the groaning inside our hearts into joy and strength to wait upon you, and when we are weak let us depend on you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! |
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