<p>8:23&nbsp;<i>And not only the creation but we ourselves</i>- A fair emphasis by Paul on the fact that our groaning are in some sort of harmony with the groaning of all creation. If we understand &lsquo;all creation&rsquo; as &ldquo;all Israel&rdquo;, Paul&rsquo;s emphasis on the commonality of our groaning together would be as if to say &lsquo;Jews and Christians aren&rsquo;t that far apart really; we are united by our groanings&rsquo;. And he argued the same at the opening of his argument in Romans 1-3; that Jew and Gentile are united by the desperation of their sinfulness, their common need for redemption.</p><p><i>Who have the firstfruits of the Spirit</i>- I have explained earlier that Paul is teaching that the spirit or personality / mind of Christ is counted to us by imputed righteousness; but more than that, the Spirit of Christ is actually placed within us, although that spirit of Christ which dwells within us is latent, hidden beneath the flesh and failures of which Paul speaks in Romans 7. As we are in Christ, so He is in us, indwelling us by His Spirit. Clearly enough, the resurrected Christ is the firstfruit (1 Cor. 15:20,23), and we shall only be the firstfruits &ldquo;afterward... at his coming&rdquo;. Yet because all that is true of Christ is true of we who are counted in Him, we too are the firstfruits. &ldquo;The Spirit&rdquo; could refer to Christ personally, &ldquo;the Lord the Spirit&rdquo; (2 Cor. 3:18 RVmg.).</p><p><i>Groan inwardly</i>- Paul writes this in explanation of his groaning within himself which is outlined in Rom. 7:15-24.</p><p><i>As we wait eagerly for</i>- The Greek rather carries the idea of expecting. For if we are in Christ, His sufferings counted as ours and ours as His, then our ultimate salvation is assured. We are therefore expecting it, rather than waiting to see what shall happen at His return.</p><p><i>Adoption as children and the redemption of our bodies</i>- Continuing the image of adoption which was introduced in 8:15. We have already received the spirit of adoption. We are adopted unto God for the sake of our being in Christ, the supreme Son of God (Eph. 1:5). We are God&rsquo;s adopted children in that we are in Christ, the ultimate child of God. But as has been lamented in Romans 7, our body, our flesh, is still as it is, unredeemed, and in practice unable to be subject to God&rsquo;s law. We with Paul and with all creation, groan for redemption from this situation. Gal. 4:5 speaks of the death of Christ as being required &ldquo;to redeem that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons&rdquo;. The ideas of redemption, adoption and &ldquo;sons&rdquo; are repeated. So although we have attained such adoption as God&rsquo;s sons in that we are in His Son by status, we long for the physical manifestation of that redemption which we have received- and we groan for it. Note that &ldquo;the adoption of&nbsp;<i>sons</i>&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t sexist language; it is as sons that we are adopted rather than as daughters or androids because we are counted as in God&rsquo;s Son, Jesus, who happened to be male. We are counted as Him. The status we have received in Him is one of redemption, we are labelled as it were &ldquo;redeemed&rdquo;. We in Christ have already received this redemption by grace (Rom. 3:24). He is &ldquo;redemption&rdquo; and we are in Him (1 Cor. 1:30). Consistently Paul speaks of &lsquo;redemption&rsquo; as being &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo; (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14), and we have been baptized into Him and are counted in Him, as Paul has laboured throughout Romans so far. But our bodies still need that redemption, and we await / expect it at the Lord&rsquo;s return. Eph. 1:14; 4:30 likewise speak of &ldquo;the day of redemption&rdquo; as the second coming of Christ, and yet urge us to believe that we &ldquo;sealed&rdquo; by our receipt of the Spirit, as a guarantee, that this day will really come for us. The &ldquo;spirit&rdquo; referred to is the same as here in Romans 8- the indwelling of Jesus personally within all them who are &ldquo;in Him&rdquo;, and the counting of His spirit to them by imputed righteousness.</p><p>Just as our minds have received the spirit of adoption, so our bodies will be transformed at the final judgment into a body like that of Jesus (Phil. 3:20,21).</p>