50 years ago — October 23, 1967
In preparation for the fourth meeting of the World Council of Churches held in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1968, a Bible study was produced on the theme “Behold I make all things new.”
“Suffering, says the apostle, is both the accompaniment of birth and the incentive to do something about life. Without suffering, at least in time and space, there is no striving no moving forward, no growing. … So groaning is good if it leads to creativity. … The whole creation is groaning in travail, striving to bring forth the new that shall not die, yearning for liberation from death and disintegration. … Christians who already have the foretaste of the new, groan even more, eager to usher in the new from the womb of the old. … The Spirit of God himself is groaning within us, in the disciplined striving of prayer that God’s name be hallowed and his Kingdom come.”
From “Renewal in and beyond history: Study VI, Romans 8:18-27” by the World Council of Churches
