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Romans 8:23

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Future Glory

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope21thatOr subjected it in hope. 21 For the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

23Not 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.

24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26In 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.27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Topics: hope redemption resurrection adoption

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paulwhelms - (eBible Mentor) 9 months ago.

If the transition between the present age and the age of glory is likened to birth pains, Paul gives us no reason to believe that we who experience the first-fruits of God's Kingdom in our lives will attain to glory without going through the same process. What we await is an eternal weight of glory (see 2 Cor. 4:16-18) that we set our hope on as we groan with anticipation, endure suffering in patience, or persevere in faith through trial and temptation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us that makes us aware of our inheritance in Christ; we shouldn't be surprised to find that walking in the Spirit will cause us to yearn and groan increasingly as we become less and less satisfied with fleeting things and more and more satisfied in Christ.