Having been united to Christ by faith, believers have become heirs with Christ in the blessed inheritance of God’s eternal glory. But being an heir, by definition requires patience. Though we are united to Christ and are beloved children of God, we will not receive our inheritance in all its fullness until the consummation of the age. Until then we will groan under the weight of the fall. How, then, can Christians not succumb to despair in the face of suffering and death? Why do those who have been “set free from the law of sin and death” still die? The answer Paul gives us with full confidence is “glory.” Indeed, “glory is the overarching theme of this passage” (vv. 18-30).^[1]

Paul assures us that no matter the degree of our suffering we can be sure that it cannot compare to the glory that will be our inheritance in eternity (vs. 18). And that means we live in the sure hope that God is actively bringing about the final redemption of our bodies; the final banishment of sin’s curse. Until that day, the indwelling Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness to the extent that he intercedes for us when words escape us (vs. 26).