Christians groan, but with hope.

 

We know that all of creation groans, awaiting God’s children to reveal a brand-new wonderful earth which is free from the curse of the sin of humanity!

But it is true that believers also groan.

Romans 8: 23 – 25: We ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as children, 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.

 

Along with creation, the child of God groans. Paul refers to our desire to be free from these weak, mortal bodies and from the impact of sin in our lives and of the impact of the sinful decisions of others. But he also speaks of the indwelling ministry of the Spirit of God in the believer's life. Since we were saved, the Spirit worked in us in such a way that we began the process of seeing sin like God sees sin. The Spirit of God "sensitized" us to sin. We became sensitive to sin around us, in our societies - and in us.

 

As a result, we are distressed by the sins we commit and that we see others commit. If sin doesn't bother us, we have a serious spiritual problem!

This produces a longing within the believer. We want to be delivered from the sinful, weak, mortal bodies. We pray to be delivered from evil around us. We would do anything to be free from this weakness. Wouldn't it be a blessing if we never again had a wicked thought? Or did a wicked deed?

 

But Paul tells us that we are saved by "hope". Hope in the Bible has a vastly different meaning than it does in the world today. When people use the word "hope" now, they are saying, "I wish", or "I want". But instead of hope only being a wish or desire, biblical hope is a deep settled knowledge based on the firm promises of God.

Biblical hope is a conviction that salvation by grace comes through faith in the shed blood and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the sure knowledge that one day our Lord will come back for us and will take us to heaven. It is the sure knowledge that we will be changed from weak, sinful creatures into new people made to be like Christ. That we will inherit a new heaven an earth.

 

We, who are God’s children, groan because we want to be free from sin. We have a longing to be remade into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that day is coming! One day, in God’s perfect time, this sinful flesh will breathe its last and I will be remade in the image of my Saviour!
This is the hope of every groaning child of God!