Chapter 13

The Groan and Glory of the Elect

What kind of set up is this? Why the bloody conflict; why the universal agony and the seeming futility of it all? These are searching questions which have haunted the human race since time immemorial and for which no seriously tenable answers were ever proffered–until Paul.

God is hoping for something, yes, Paul speaks to us of God, the Almighty One, who hopes.[1] The idea of God hoping, experiencing something new, learning, is difficult for those Sunday-schooled in the academic formulas of the attributes of God so thoroughly institutionalized by zealous, overreaching (in reality, myopic) theologians. God is perfect but He is not static. Essentially, He changes not, but His nature is dynamic; His love expansive. God’s activity is not cyclical as supposed by prevailing Eastern thought. On this point, Paul is thoroughly Hebrew–God has a plan which is unfolding. There are befores, durings, and after’s in God. He conceives of things, begins them, and concludes them. What happens has never happened before. History is a line, not a circle. Paul explains but he never over-explains. In the final analysis, there remains a mystery in the Divinity and in the Divine purpose; nevertheless, Paul is completely and unshakably persuaded of God’s loving purpose behind all circumstances.[2]

In Romans 8, Paul speaks of two expectations, both characterized by painful groaning’s. He first identifies the universal struggle clearly apparent involving man and nature, earth and heaven–the whole creation.[3] Then he observes a very significant truth which forms the basis for the proper apprehension of non-believers by biblically informed Christians, “… but we who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”[4] So the entire human race is experiencing labor pains together; the suffering of the creation at large is retributive and corrective while the suffering of the saints (or those with the first-fruits of the Spirit) is sacrificial as well. Both address the justice of God but at different levels. The sacrificial suffering of the saints is the reconciling ministry of the suffering Savior being shared by his body, the church.[5]  This suffering goes deeper; it goes to the spirit and has to do with intercession and the atoning work of the Creator on behalf of His estranged creation. Sometimes this suffering has a physical dimension as in times of persecution by hostile governments or religious institutions but for the saints there is at the spiritual level an unrelenting struggle against spiritual evil which will continue until redemption is complete and the spiritual enemies are defeated.[6] Paul goes on to explain that the unutterable groaning’s of the saints are intercessions inspired by the Holy Spirit.[7] The redemptive suffering of the saints is clearly understood by Paul as priestly.[8]  Their intercessory ministry is more far-reaching than they are able to comprehend. How could the saints know what to pray for? Their prayers reach far beyond their ability to consciously perceive or rationally understand the purpose and plan of God in them, and if they could know the meaning and outcomes, they would certainly fall victim to fleshly pride. Only after their resurrection will they receive the honor and glory that accompanies God’s true priests. Only then will they have the full experience of grace and heavenly bodies designed to handle it. This is the thrust of Paul’s teaching and burden in the passages being considered, without which the saints would live mystified in their experience of the world and perplexed even to despair.[9]

But that is not all. If the saints are priests, they are also princes and ultimately kings, sharing the throne with Jesus Christ the King of Kings, and as such, are destined to rule and judge in the kingdom to come. This incredible revelation begins to take form as the exultant theme of Paul’s message to the church and is further developed in his letters as we shall consider in the pages to come.

Based on the propositions set forth by Paul in the preceding chapters of Romans concerning redemption, he now draws truly satisfying existential conclusions for anyone willing to follow his progression of thought and contemplate the profound implications. Although perennially disinterested, for the human race at large, there is access to ontological knowledge that affirms the good intentions of God to work all things (cosmically) together.[10] But for the elect in their day of suffering, there is exceedingly more—the marvelous and deeply comforting persuasion that absolutely nothing can separate them from God’s love—nothing![11]