Romans 8 lines out some amazing things about who we are in Jesus. One of them is revealed in the three distinct groanings.  All of creation has been groaning under the consequences of the fall, desiring the manifestation of the sons of God in the earth.  Indeed we, the very sons of God, ourselves groan for the revealing of the fully manifested Sons of the Lord.  That would be us, fully redeemed, body soul and spirit.  Yes, even the very Spirit of the Lord Himself empowers our deepest groanings when we are at a total loss as to how to pray.

All of creation was subjected to grief pain and suffering when man (Adam) turned his dominion over the earth to the enemy. Ever since then creation has longed for the revealing of the Sons of God once again as they take their rightful dominion back and set the world right.  As the creation so do we groan in our hearts for that same revealing to be made manifest.  The most powerful part of the whole subject of groaning is that the Holy Spirit Himself actually initiates and empowers groanings through us as we come to the end of our own strength and literally run out of words to express our deepest longings for His will to be accomplished.

This  return to the creation as it was before the fall is not just some future thing which we will watch at the end of time when the trumpet blows and we are caught up.  However we have a part to play, indeed a critical part to play, in joining with creation and Holy Spirit to intercede for the full restoration of all things.

That’s the beauty here, it’s not just that the cosmos longs for deliverance or that we ourselves seek it, but that Holy Spirit Himself is the driving force within us to bring the restoration to fruition.  It’s not that we must just pine away for our full redemption, hoping and praying it comes someday.  We have the firm assurance that YHVH Himself is working to bring it forth through the mystery of His Spirit calling it into being through us, His children.