The Bible, especially the OT prophets (eg Jer 12:4), draw a close connection between the state of nature and man's sin. Conversely, the prophets said that when Israel turned to God creation would flourish.
Verse 23 is a typical example of the "now, but not yet" nature of our salvation. We have been forgiven, we have received the Holy Spirit, we have been redeemed, we have been adopted as sons of God (v15). Yet at the same time we long for these things. We need more of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we need more redemption, we need to be more sons of God. For much of the old still remains, and there is a longing within us for more, and a recognition that we far from being all that we should be.
Here Paul says we wait for our adoption, but in v15 he says our adoption has already happened. So what does this mean? We are the children of God now, but there is so much more to this than we already experience. This shows us that being sons of God is not just a state, but a reality that has real effect in our lives and shows itself by transformation in our lives, and the outcome of our lives. Right at the start of Romans (1:4) Paul says that through the resurrection Jesus was declared to be the Son of God. This does not mean Jesus was not the Son of God before then (He was so from all eternity), but that the significance, the full implications of it, were realised, made evident, when He was raised from the dead. So it is with us. There is much more to happen in our lives than has happened already. We can sometimes look ahead in life with fear. We should not do so, instead we should look ahead with hope. For there is more transformation to come in our lives, God is going to do more work in and through our lives, He is going to demonstrate to the world who we are.
"For in this hope we were saved". Hope is an essential element of life, and we hope for what we do not yet have, and we wait for it patiently.
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