There is within this text the supposition that we are called to “birth” new opportunities through our Spirit filled living and working. As believers, we have been given the gift and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul writes of the current sufferings we endure with the simultaneous expectations of the future hope of redeemed bodies in a redeemed earth. This redemption is afforded through the one who liberates us from bondage. Christ as the first born Son of God is in essence the first fruits offered as a grain offering and a drink offering. We pick up this symbolic language as Paul says elsewhere that he himself is poured out like a drink offering. So we wait and groan inwardly for the future hope of complete redemption and restoration through the atoning work of Christ. And while we wait, the Holy Spirit is always seeking to “give birth” to new ministry and creation care through us.   

Grace and peace, Pastor Bob