Key words: glory, Spirit, groaning, intercession, afflictions, image, conformity, new creation, Romans (ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) Rich themes abound in Romans 8, a perennial favorite within the Pauline corpus: no condemnation in Christ; adoption as sons of God; glory through suffering; God's providential working of all things for the good of believers, just to name a few. In other words, we have failed to live in a way that reflects the nature and character of God (i.e. his glory) in our lives, the very purpose for which we, as image-bearers, were created.2 Just as sin is explained with reference to glory, Paul also presents redemption in Christ in relation to glory. Because believers have been justified by faith (5:1), they once more have "hope of the glory of God" (5:2). Believers once more have "hope of the glory of God" (5:2) and will be "conformed to the image of God's Son" (8:29), which is another way of saying that they will be "glorified" (cf. 8:30).4 Thus glory becomes an eschatolog- ical hope and expectation for believers, a realization of God's purpose for Adam and for Israel to see and to show forth the glory of God.5 God's glory shared with humanity is a significant aspect of Paul's gospel as he presents it in Romans, and the hope of eschatological glory is the central theme of Romans 5-8. In Rom 5:5, Paul says believers' hope-which in context refers to their "hope of the glory of God" (5:2)-does not put them to shame "because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."