Birth Pangs, Not Death Throes: Living in the "Already" and "Not Yet"
A Summary of the Katy Bible Sermon “The Proof and Promise of Sonship Pt. 2”, preached by Matt Mancini on August 30th, 2026.
Why does everything around us still look so broken?
If we have been justified by faith and promised an incomparable, glorious inheritance, why do our bodies still break down? Why do we still receive devastating diagnoses? Why do we still bury the people we love?
These are heavy questions. But Romans 8:19–25 answers them by pulling the camera back and giving us a wide-angle, cosmic view of redemption.
The truth is that redemption is vastly bigger than just our individual salvation. When Adam fell in Genesis 3, he did not fall alone. As humanity’s representative, his sin dragged the entire created order down with him under the curse. The thorns, the tsunamis, the cancer, and the decay we see today are reflections of a creation subjected to futility.
But Paul gives us a crucial word: hope.
Creation was subjected to futility "in hope" (Romans 8:20). The curse does not have the final word. God’s redemptive plan has an appointed end—a day when He will reclaim and restore what sin has corrupted.
The Cosmic Chorus of Groaning
Until that day, we live in a world marked by a corporate chorus of groaning. Paul outlines a remarkable picture of three distinct groans:
First, creation groans. Romans 8:19 pictures creation waiting with eager expectation for the revealing of the sons of God. The image is one of anxious anticipation—like someone straining forward, standing on tiptoe to see what is coming. Creation itself is waiting for the day when God’s children will be revealed in glory and creation will share in the freedom that comes with our redemption. But verse 22 tells us that in its current state, creation groans with longing for what is to come.
Second, believers groan. Christians are not exempt from the pain of living in a fallen world. We experience sickness, loss, disappointment, grief, and death. We groan because our bodies and our world are not yet what they were created to be. But our groaning is not necessarily evidence of weak faith. Sometimes, groaning is evidence that our hope is strong. Paul says that we have “the firstfruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23). The Holy Spirit is God’s down payment and guarantee of what is to come. Because we have already tasted something of the coming glory, we long even more deeply for the fullness of our redemption.
Third, the Holy Spirit Himself groans within us. When our suffering is so deep that we do not know how to pray, we are not alone. Romans 8:26 tells us that the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
Our groaning is therefore surrounded by God’s groaning creation, our own groaning hearts, and the Spirit’s intercession on our behalf.
Birth Pangs, Not Death Throes
But notice the profound quality of this groaning.
It is not the agonizing groan of death throes; it is the anticipatory groan of birth pangs. Death throes lead to darkness and death. Birth pangs move toward life.
The pain we feel is real. The suffering is real. The tears are real. But for the Christian, they are not meaningless. They are moving toward something.
We Are "Strider" in the Already and Not Yet
So, how do we navigate this tension between what God has already accomplished and what we are still waiting to experience? It lies in understanding the "already but not yet" of our adoption.
Think of Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. For most of the epic, he wanders as "Strider"—a weatherbeaten, dusty ranger who doesn't look like much.
Yet, he was the rightful king all along.
His eventual coronation didn't make him who he was. It publicly revealed and confirmed what was already true of his identity and rightful claim.
In the same way, we are already fully adopted children of God, but the full glory of our sonship is currently hidden. We are waiting for the final coronation: the redemption of our bodies in glorification.
Today, we may look more like “Strider” than a crowned king. Our bodies still grow old. We still suffer. We still struggle. We still walk through graves and hospital rooms. But there is a day coming when the glory of what God has already declared about us will be fully revealed.
That is the redemption of our bodies.
Anticipatory Certainty: Defining Biblical Hope
This is where biblical hope becomes so important.
In our modern vocabulary, "hope" is often synonymous with wishful thinking—an expression of uncertainty. I hope things work out. I hope this happens. I hope everything will be okay.
Biblical hope is the exact opposite. It is a confident expectation and an optimistic certainty, based on the trustworthy promises of a God who cannot lie.
Christian hope is anticipatory certainty stretched across time.
We do not yet see everything God has promised. But we know the One who made the promise. That is why Paul can say that we wait for what we do not yet see with patience. Our confidence is not based on our circumstances. It is based on God’s faithfulness.
How do we live this out this week?
Learn to groan like a Christian. Do not pretend that everything is fine when it isn't. Christians do not have to deny pain, suppress grief, or manufacture happiness. We can acknowledge that the world is broken. But let our groans be laced with expectation.
Cultivate a heart posture of anticipation. We should be the most joyful people in the world—"first in, last out, and laughing loudest," knowing the war has already been won in Christ.
Persevere on the path. Do not measure God’s love for you by your present circumstances. If a mother in labor measured the joy of motherhood by the pain of labor, we would go extinct in a generation.
Our present suffering cannot cancel our future inheritance. Lift your eyes this week. The darkness is real, but after darkness comes light. Your groans today are not evidence that tomorrow isn't coming; they are the birth pangs of an absolutely certain glory.