The Future Glory

18Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,*8:23 Greek wait anxiously for sonship. including the new bodies he has promised us. 24We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope*8:24 Some manuscripts read wait. for it. 25But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)