23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
As I'm reading through Romans the idea of being an orphan eagerly awaiting adoption hit home as a powerful metaphor. I have friends and family who can attest to the angst, desperation, joy, hope, devastation, weariness, hopelessness and dependency that come through the process of adoption. This, of course, is all of life. The feeling of being an orphan makes it all the more tangible, all the more sorrowful and all the more joyful when we are saved.
We are all orphans waiting here on our Earth orphanage to be rescued. We hope against the despair that piles up in our fallen world. But we do hope. We hear a story that gives us hope. It is a story of a King who endured the greatest suffering to come for us. The King gave up his life that our lives might be paid for, the Cross guaranteeing our release from bondage. But what good is being released if there is nothing to be released to? In the Resurrection of the King we have a Proof of his coming. When the time comes, we will say his name and be set free. Because he lives, he will come for us.
Now in this adoption process we know that though we wait, we can be assured that the paperwork has been filed, all approvals made, yet we still have to wait. On this Earth orphanage then, because we believe, our waiting should be full of joy, and hope and preparation for his arrival. We know not when it will happen, so we should always be ready. And though the waiting is painful, it will not compare to the Joy! This is a Joy we are called upon to share. We should give the password to all the other children in the orphanage that they might be set free too! The pain of knowing some may be left behind should haunt us and drive us to make sure many are saved. This orphanage will be transformed into a Mansion upon the coming of the King. In this mansion there are many rooms, were it not so, I would tell you!
In this context, Romans 8 really drives it home:
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that[h] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerlyfor our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
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