When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, He introduced Himself in one of the Bible’s most comforting ways. He said, in effect, “I have seen what my people are going through. I have heard their cries. I know their suffering. And I have come down to help.”

That tells us something important about God. He is not distant. He is not detached. He is not unaware. When His people hurt, He knows it. When they cry out, He hears. And when the time is right, He comes down to deliver.

In Exodus, that cry came from Israel in bondage in Egypt.

In Romans 8, Paul widens the picture. Now it is not only Israel groaning under Pharaoh. It is the whole creation groaning under the curse. The world has been subjected to frustration. Everything is marked by decay, loss, weakness, and death. Creation groans. We groan. Even Christians, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, still groan as we wait for the redemption of our bodies.

Paul says this present world is like a woman in labor. The pain is real. The pressure is real. But the pain is not pointless. Something is coming.

That is the connection between Exodus and Romans 8. In Egypt, God heard the cry of His people and came down to deliver them. In the gospel, God hears the groaning of a broken creation and comes down again, this time in the person of His Son.

And with the resurrection of Jesus, the baby has crowned.

The new creation has begun to appear. The first sign of the coming world has emerged into history. The long labor is not over yet, but the outcome is no longer in doubt.

That resurrection means the groaning will not last forever. God has heard the cry of creation and acted. He has come down to deliver. And one day the bondage of corruption will be broken, and all who belong to Christ will share in the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Maranatha,

Jordy