The Spirit is the Spirit of creation, hovering over the waters.
The Spirit is the Messianic Spirit, equipping the Servant of Yahweh with wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, filling His breath with the power to kill and make alive.
But the Spirit who brings new creation out of the old is the Spirit of groaning (Romans 8). This is the Spirit who dwells in us, so that we groan with Him and with the creation, laboring over creation, moaning like a dove until she gives birth to a fresh version of herself.
New creation comes through the groaning Spirit. Not one without the other. Not ineffectual groaning. Not triumph without a cross.
Our suffering the pains of childbirth is our participation in the forming of the new creation, because the Spirit of new creation is the Spirit of groaning.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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