Rom 8:18-25

The Groaning isn't the Ending

Hold on to hope.

While tempting, there is no comparison between present suffering and future glory.

Rom 8:18

"Present": Whatever you're walking through right now has a boundary around it

This why the world feels broken. Because it is.

Rom 8:19-21

Creation was subjected to futility... "in hope."

These aren't death pains.

Rom 8:22

Labor is an unusual form of suffering because the pain is interpreted through its anticipated outcome.

Christians groan too.

Rom 8:23

We have the Spirit. And we groan. Those things aren't contradictory. In fact, there's a sense in which having the Spirit may make us groan more, because we've tasted enough of what God is doing to recognize how much isn't finished yet.

Know what you're waiting for.

Rev 21:1-4

Christian hope includes bodily resurrection and life in a renewed creation.

This is what it means to hope.

Rom 8:24-25

The Bible uses hope with a sense of certainty. Biblical hope is confident expectation based upon the character and promise of God.