In my last post, I talked about the fact that the world system is waiting for the church to be revealed in God’s glory. That’s a body of believers who are walking in maturity. This is the goal Paul is bringing us to in the book of Romans.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Romans 8:22

According to this verse, the whole system is doing two things. The first word Paul uses means to be groaning together. This is a moaning because of the place we find ourselves in.

It speaks of a very narrow place. The world understands that there should be more to life than the petty things they’re chasing after.

The second word Paul uses means to be in birth pains together. Picture this in the spirit…the entire world filled with pregnant, groaning, women. That’s what God sees in regards to His destiny for the church.

In my last article, we saw that the world is desperate to be liberated from its bondage to decay. That’s the physical law that everything goes from new to old and decayed. It’s also known as the Third Law of Thermodynamics for all of us science geeks.

However, the kingdom of God – the church – should be a place where that law has no effect. We should be experiencing healing, prosperity, and joy – in spite of all that’s going on around us.

It’s just like Israel when they were in Egypt. When the plagues came, the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived was unaffected. I believe this is what we’ll experience in the final days before the return of Christ.

Then, those with eyes to see and ears to hear will run to the kingdom of God before it’s too late. I believe that will be the final harvest before the coming of wrath and the return of the Lord.

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.

Romans 8:23

Now we see another groaning that the apostle talks about. The world system is groaning under the weight of decay. But we, as the body of Christ, are groaning too.

Who is it that’s groaning? It’s those who have the firstfruits of the spirit. That’s an interesting term. I understand the Fruit of the Spirit. That’s the result of the cultivation of the spirit walk.

In Old Testament times under the Law, you could plant fruit trees. According to that Law, you couldn’t touch the fruit for the first three years. Then, in the fourth year, all of the fruit belonged to God.

Then, from the fifth year on, it was considered a mature tree and all the fruit belonged to the owner. Now he could begin to give a firstfruits offering.

The Scripture didn’t say how much to bring for the firstfruits. So, the priests came up with some guidelines which became part of the traditions of the elders.

They said that the least anyone should give is one-sixtieth. However, if you want to be liberal with your offering, you could give one-thirtieth.

That reminds me of how the Lord blesses when we plant the seed of His Word. He blesses thirty, sixty, and even a hundredfold on His Word. He goes above and beyond all we can ask or imagine.

The fact is that those of us who are starting to see the work of God in us begin to groan inwardly. We’re waiting for the full adoption – the complete ransom – the deliverance of our body.

We’re starting to see the first of God’s work in us through the Fruit of the Spirit. But we’re groaning for the whole thing to be accomplished.

Question: How much of the Fruit of the Spirit do you see in your life?

© 2021 Nick Zaccardi