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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Groaning for the Adoption, #3
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:20,21—NIV)
Can you see that Paul is still answering his own question concerning deliverance from the body of sin and death?
Now we are able to gain a picture of the goal of salvation, what salvation is all about. You may have wondered why so many verses of the New Testament speak of salvation as though it is something that will come in the future. The preaching of today, to a great extent, is not balanced in this regard. Salvation is being presented as a one-time experience that a person has and then can look back to. The fact is, salvation begins at a specific point and then we have to work it out in the hope we will receive it at the coming of the Lord.
This is not to say we cannot know if we are "saved." We can have the assurance in our heart that God has heard us and is pleased with us. Nevertheless it is as I have stated. To present the Christian salvation as a one-time experience we can look back to is not scriptural.
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11—NIV)
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28—NIV)
Who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:5—NIV)
What we are speaking of now is the salvation that is to appear with the appearing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven.
Notice carefully:
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? (Romans 8:23,24—NIV)
When Paul says we have the "firstfruits of the Spirit" he means we have the Holy Spirit in advance of the whole creation, for one day the earth will be filled with the Spirit of God. Human life—true human life—is not the life of flesh and blood. The life of flesh and blood was always meant to be temporary. True life is life lived in the eternal Spirit of God.
We are not alive as yet. We presently are in the dark womb of the program of creation. We will not begin true life until the Lord returns and fills our body with His Holy Spirit.
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (I Corinthians 15:22,23—NIV)
To be continued.