Principles of living a godly life [72] - Present hardship – Future honour [4]

 ‘For we appreciate that the whole of the original formation is jointly groaning and jointly suffering birth pains up to the present time. 23 Not alone, but on the contrary, even ourselves, possessing the first-fruit of the Breath [Pneuma], even we ourselves are groaning within ourselves, eagerly awaiting adoption as sons, the full ransom and release of our body’, (Romans 8 v 22, 23). 

The opposite of ‘the whole of the original formation’ (verse 22) is ‘even ourselves, possessing the first-fruit of the Breath’ (verse 23), or Christians. As Benson’s Commentary states, this shows ‘that the apostle is speaking, not of [animals] and inanimate creation but of mankind’. Generally speaking there is a discontentment or sense of lack of fulfilment within humanity. The whole of the empty, aimless, transient original formation that lacks usefulness ‘is jointly groaning and jointly suffering birth pains up to the present time’, (verse 22). Humanity, within its original formation, is united in a condition of sorrow, continued suffering and existential crisis. That fact that Paul is speaking about humanity is confirmed by his emphasis on ‘the attentive thinking and supposition of the original formation’, (verse 19). What is this attentive thinking and supposition? Paul has told us throughout his letter to the Romans. Existing within their original formation, humanity is ‘holding down the truth within injustice and what is not rightwise’, (Romans 1 v 18). They ‘became ineffectual, unproductive and without usefulness within their thinking, and their deep inner core, lacking synthesised understanding began and continued to be darkened. 22 Asserting to be clear and wise, they became dull, sluggish and insipid, 23 and they changed the honour and praiseworthiness of God into a likeness, an image, of mortal man, flying animals, four-footed beasts and crawling things. 24 Therefore God handed them over away from close beside, within focus on passionate desire of their hearts’, (Romans 1 v 21 - 24). Enslaved to their fleshly constitution, ‘the down from the flesh are existing thinking, judging and caring for that of the flesh’, (Romans 8 v 5), constructing and manufacturing that of the flesh, (Romans 1 v 24 – 32; Galatians 5 v 19 – 21).

But humanity existing within its original formation is not groaning in pain alone. On the contrary, ‘even ourselves possessing the firstfruit of the Breath [Pneuma], even we ourselves are groaning within ourselves’, (verse 23). Christians are also groaning within themselves in constriction. Why are Christians groaning within themselves? Because Christians are eagerly expecting ‘adoption as sons, the full ransom and release of our body’. We have seen that Christians are existing within their ‘clay vessel’, the original formation that is a ‘body of death’. They are ‘groaning and weighed down on the basis that they do not wish to be stripped out of clothing, but to be clothed over, so that ‘the subject to death’ be swallowed down by Life’, (II Corinthians 5 v 4). Christians are ‘eagerly awaiting adoption as sons’. The Christian has received the Breath of God and His Messiah and is already an adopted child of God, (verses15, 16.) But this adoption still has to be brought to completion, which will not be until the coming of the Messiah as King of kings. At that time they will receive ‘the full ransom and release of their body’. The original formation of flesh and blood, of a mortal body, cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Christians are groaning within, eagerly awaiting the release of their existing vessel of clay, eagerly expecting it to be changed.