Read: Romans 8:18-25
We are going to look for another clear manifestation of possessing the victory of Christ’s resurrection. As we already know, Christ’s resurrection opened up the way to glorification, with Himself being the firstfruit of glory through the Father’s resurrection of Him after He suffered and died (Philippians 2:8-11).
Through Him, we who have put our faith in Him have this hope of also being glorified, as we can see in Philippians 3:21, “He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body.” We shall bear the likeness of Him who died and lived again for us – 1 Corinthians 15:49. Indeed Christ is our hope of glory ( Colossians 1:27).
According to our reading today (Romans 8:18-25), those who have this hope of glory groan inwardly for the day of glorification. Therefore, groaning for the day of our glorification is another way of identifying ourselves with the victory of the cross. Groaning for that blessed day is a clear manifestation of our association with the glory Christ has.
To groan is to make deep inarticulate sounds conveying pain and despair. Inarticulate means at a loss for words, unable to express oneself, or lost for words. This is how we hope for the future glory of God, we feel it deeply in our hearts, and we’re at a loss for words at how much we desire for the day to come.
Why do we groan? For two reasons we groan for our future glory. For one, we groan inwardly as we are expectant of the hope we have in Christ. Our groaning is due to our anticipation of the fulfillment of our hope in Christ (Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 5:2-5).
Second, our groaning is due to the oppression of sin. Sin is a cruel oppressor (Luke 4:18). We’re always struggling within us due to the fact that we always fail to do what is right as sin is still yet to be overcome in our earthly bodies (Romans 7:14). As King David said, the guilt brought about by sin is too heavy a burden to carry (Psalm 38:4). And so we groan. We long to be freed. We long to be glorified and be completely free from the hold of sin.
As children of God who received this hope, we groan inwardly. But it isn’t only us who groan, the entire creation does as well.
The creation groans for the day of the believer’s glorification (Romans 8:19, 22). Because of sin, the world we live in is a sin-ravaged world. This is due to God’s reaction against sin in Genesis 3:14, 17-19. God subjected His creation to futility and frustration. This brought pain, suffering, meaninglessness, and death. But God had a plan as laid out in Genesis 3:15, this is protoevangelion, the very first time the good news was spoken of in the Bible.
Upon the release of man from the hold of sin completely, the entire creation would also be released. Indeed the entire creation is also waiting for that glorious day, the redemption of the children of God. The creation knows that the day of the children of God’s glorification is the day of its freedom from decay as well. Truly, the glorification of the saints marks the full release of the creation from the effects of sin. And so the entire creation is groaning inwardly for that day as well.
Reflect:
Are you groaning, longing ever so deeply for your future glorification? Are you spiritually upset by the onslaught of sin in our time? Well, do not despair, for the day of our freedom is near. Our Lord’s resurrection guarantees that we shall be indeed freed. And I admonish you to go out there in nature, for there is one thing you and nature share together – a longing for that day of complete deliverance from decay. It is no wonder that nature exudes such calm and beauty, in spite of it waiting for its deliverance as well. Nature has the ability to empathize with us, to reach out to us, to heal and comfort us. Like us, nature is waiting for the blessed hope.
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