21. that everything God made would be set free from ruin. There was hope that everything God made would have the freedom and glory that belong to God’s children.
22. We know that everything God made has been waiting until now in pain, like a woman ready to give birth.
23. Not only the world, but we also have been waiting with pain inside us. We have the Spirit as the first part of God’s promise. So we are waiting for God to finish making us his own children. I mean we are waiting for our bodies to be made free.
24. We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, then that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have.
25. But we are hoping for something that we do not have yet. We are waiting for it patiently.
26. Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us. The Spirit speaks to God with deep feelings that words cannot explain.