Moaning And Groaning

I. The Groaning of the Creation, 19-22

The Hap of the Believer

A. The Expression

B. The Expectation, “waiteth”

II. The Groaning of the Christian, 23-25

The Hope of the Believer:

A. The Expression

B. The Expectation

III. The Groaning of the Comforter, 26, 27

The Help of the Believer

A. The Expression

B. An Explanation

C. The Expectation, Answered Prayer!

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

26 ¶ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

How do you know you are getting older.

 Your children begin to look middle-aged.

 You sit in the rocking chair and can’t get it going.

 Your knees buckle, but your belt won’t.

 Your back goes out more than you do.

 You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.

I like the spirit of men like S.L. Potter, a La Mesa, California, resident who bungee jumped for the first time at age one hundred! Potter’s children, ages sixty-eight to seventy-four, were vehemently opposed to the leap, but Potter climbed a 210-foot tower and successfully executed his jump. His first words when he got off the Cord? “Give me back my teeth!”

—Ed Young, Been There. Done That. Now What?, Broadman, 1994, p. 189.

I DON’T REMEMBER

Just a line to say I’m living,

That I’m not among the dead:

Though I’m getting more forgetful,

And mixed up in the head.

For sometimes I can’t remember

When I stand at the foot of the stair;

If I must go up for something

Or if I’ve just come down from there.

And before the Frig so often,

My poor mind is filled with doubt;

Have I just put food away or

Have I come to take it out?

There are times when it is darkest,

With my night cap on my head;

I don’t know if I’m retiring

Or just getting out of bed.

So if it’s my turn to write you,

There’s no need of getting sore;

I may think that I have written,

And don’t want to be a bore.

So remember—I do love you,

And wish that you were here;

But now it’s nearly mail time

So, I must say “good-bye dear.”

There I stood beside the mailbox

With my face so red,

For instead of mailing my letter

I had opened it instead.

I. The Groaning of the Creation, 19-22

The Hap of the believer

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity (“disappointing misery”), not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

A. The Expression

The results of that curse are plain to see! (Ill. Earthquakes, thorns, deadly animals, poisonous snakes, poisoned plants, death and violence.)

Paul concluded (18) that our present sufferings are far outweighed by the glory that will be revealed in us. The future glory is so great that present sufferings are insignificant by comparison.

19-21. The interrelationship of man with the physical creation of which he is a part and in which he lives was established in God’s sentence of judgment on Adam after the Fall. Here Paul demonstrated that this relationship has a future aspect in connection with God’s program of salvation for people.

Evolution and entropy, our garden.

The fall of man involved all of creation, at least so far as this planet is concerned.