Writing to the Christians of first-century Rome, the apostle Paul acknowledged that creation, believers, and even the Spirit Himself groan in hopeful anticipation of final renewal. Present suffering is real, Scripture affirms—but it is eclipsed by the promised glory to come. In his sermon “Groaning and Glory,” Alistair Begg traces the inseparable link between suffering and glory in God’s redemptive purpose, reminding us that the Spirit sustains believers in weakness and that God is at work in all things for our ultimate good:
If you’re looking at the text, you will notice that what he’s dealing with here is not simply a personal matter, but it is a matter that is cosmic in its implications: “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:19).
The creation is waiting for the day of liberation. And as staggeringly challenging as it is, the church actually is God’s pilot scheme for the reconciled universe of the future. The church is like a little charcoal sketch of a glorious technicolor reality that will one day be revealed for all the world to see. And when people make their journey through the world, if they say, “Is there anywhere that I can find anybody or anything that remotely resembles what the Bible is speaking about?” the answer is supposed to be “Yeah, come to our church.” …
… I’ll tell you what the deal is with creation: The creation is waiting “with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” The story of the world is: good, bad, new, perfect. God made it good. It’s bad because of sin. In Jesus, He makes it new. It’s not perfect yet, but one day it’s going to be. And we know that includes not only our personal journey but includes the totality of the universe.