The mandate given to us by God at Creation has not been revoked because of sin, but it has surely been made more difficult to fulfil. Any fruitfulness now comes through pain and frustration– for both the woman and the man. They experience this together, but also in their own particular labours of life. As we will hear this week, the woman knows this pain and frustration particularly in motherhood and marriage. And yet, it is through this same pain and frustration that the promised 'offspring' of the woman is born. And, he will also be the True and Faithful Husband of his Bride, the church. As Paul reminds us in Romans 8– yes, creation has been subjected to futility, but in hope. Despite the pain and frustration we know in life, in Jesus Christ there is the sure hope of freedom, relief and glory beyond compare.