Reflection on Rom 8:23
“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.”
It is said that even we ourselves, who already have the firstfruits of the Spirit, do not yet have His fullness.
We do have the firstfruits of the Spirit, but while we are in time the poisonous seed passed on us from our first parents works in us until the last moment, and therefore sin subjugates our body. We have believed and received Jesus, we are children of God and the Spirit gives us strength; nevertheless, we still groan because sin, spiritual darkness and apathy towards spiritual things pull us down. It is beyond human power to change our physicality with the seed of original sin in it which will last until the hour of death; and so we await the redemption of this body. How will redemption be accomplished? The Scripture tells us that the spirit of the righteous will go away into eternal glory, but the body will decay after death. It is only at the Second Coming that God will raise our body from the dust of the earth and give life to it, and he will also transform it to be like the body of Christ. Scripture says that the generation that will live to see the Second Coming of Christ will be an exception and will not die but will be changed and raptured. Of course, this applies to those who are faithful to Jesus, and not those who hate Him, betrayed Him or rejected Him. To some extent, our groaning is a blessing because it proves that we are not content with this condition. Our spirit perceives that all things are vanity of vanities, and it longs for eternal happiness. Here we have afflictions, diseases and disappointments, which of course we can and should transform by faith into the blessing of the cross. Jesus Himself then helps us carry this cross. We should groan especially in prayer, desiring above all the salvation of our immortal soul, and if our soul is saved, our body will be saved too, and will also be transformed and glorified. True groaning should be associated with repentance, prayer and the following of Jesus.
We are approaching the culmination of Lent. The worldwide coronavirus quarantine forces us to think about death. Let us make the most of it. Some few people die of the coronavirus, but none of us shall avoid death after all. Death, however, is not the worst thing; the worst thing is the death of an unrepentant sinner because he loses eternal life.
Let us devote especially these last two weeks of Lent to the prayer of the Stations of the Cross with songs during the holy hour.
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