If there is one single most important theme in Romans as it relates to our life, it is never lose sight of the gospel. The gospel informs and describes the life of those who believe in Jesus. The gospel is the good news that sinners can have a right standing before God. In the introduction to this amazing epistle, Paul gives us the good news before he tells us why we need the it: "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17) This righteousness by faith affects every aspect of our life, as we interact with God, with each other, and with the world. In the first three chapters Paul explains why we need the gospel: God demonstrates His wrath and judgment on the world because of sin. In Chapters 3-5 he explains how we are saved once we recognize our need to be cleansed of sin – that is through faith in Jesus Christ. This faith becomes our justification before God, as the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to us. Chapters 6-8 describe the transition from imputed righteousness to imparted righteousness, the process known as the doctrine of sanctification where we increasingly take upon ourselves the righteous nature of Christ.

In Chapter 6 Paul describes what it means to be dead to sin; Chapter 7 describes being set free from the law; and Chapter 8 describes being set free from indwelling sin in order that we may grow in the imputed righteousness that we already have credited to us by faith. We experience progressive sanctification as the Holy Spirit creates Christ’s righteousness within us; we are commanded “to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”. (Ephesians 4:15) It is only through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to resist sin and grow in righteousness; sin cannot overpower those who are in Christ. Confirmation of this is found in Romans 8:10-11, “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Paul further elaborates on this in verse 15, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’" Having received the Spirit of adoption is wonderful assurance that we cannot fall into a sin which results in a total and final fall from grace.

However, when trials come into our life, we are prone to question God’s character, or His ability to care for us. Are His promises actually true? If the trial is a temptation to sin, or the actual sin, we begin to question whether we are right with God; do we truly have imputed righteousness and growing in sanctification? We know that we should be able to live above sin, and we struggle with what pleases God and with what doesn’t please Him. We come face-to-face with our expectations of how God should care for us. Since we adopted sons or daughters, we expect certain benefits from Him. Often, we have the wrong expectations of God, thinking that troubles are not normal for God’s children. However, just the opposite is true – we should expect troubles. In verse 18 Paul was emphatic that the eternal glory to come far exceeds the momentary suffering that we face in this life. Having been given the Spirit of adoption guarantees that we will be received into glory.

Our suffering is not a surprise to God; it is part of His plan for us. Paul wants us to expect suffering and prepare accordingly by keeping our focus on the glory to come. While we see suffering as an ugly thing, God sees it as a beautiful thing; He is weaning us off this world. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." In Christ, we too can be overcomers. Also, in John 14 Jesus told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s mansion in glory and that He would come again to take them to their celestial home. While we wait for Christ’s return, we should expect suffering.

1. Creation Longs for Glory (VV. 19-22)

Paul addresses our longing for the glory to come, and he also points out that all of creation longs for glory as well. He said, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” All of creation recognizes that all is not right with the world.

In verses 18-27, we see three longings for glory: creation’s longing, the believer’s longing and the Spirit’s longing. Today we consider the creation’s longing, a model for us. The purpose of suffering is to wean us off this world and create a longing for glory. Along with us, the entire universe gazes into glory. When Paul discusses creation in this context, he is referring to all of creation except moral creatures, i.e., man, angels and demons. The English language is so imprecise that it is difficult to accurately capture Paul’s message in verse 19 – thus various translations exist. The Legacy Standard Version for Romans 8:19 reads, “For the anxious longings of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” Here Paul is personifying creation; he attributes the aspects of longing and waiting to the creation which cannot possess such characteristics. Such personification is common in Scripture. For example, Psalm 19:1 attributes hands to God, and Isaiah describes hills and mountains singing as well as trees clapping their hands. (Isaiah 55:12) The Bible uses personification in many ways to help our finite minds better understand the message God has for us.

• Creation Stretches its Neck (v. 19a)

Here, again, Paul uses personification to describe in human terms what creation is doing while waiting for the sons to be revealed. The ESV translates the Greek in verse 19 as “eager longing”, whereas other versions translate it as “anxious longing” (Ex. NASB). The ESV translators chose “eager”, thinking that anxious connoted fear. In one sense, being anxious may be the better choice because, as one translator said, it is almost as if the universe is on its tiptoes, stretching its neck, looking for glory – for the revealing of the sons of God. It is not so much a fear as an excited hope, such as the longing for a loved one to return from a trip. One example of the reason why the creation longs for glory is observed in death and decay. Animals die, plants die, iron rusts, etc. This is God’s intended purpose; He is bringing about a plan that will mean death to all things visible to us. All the death and decay we see is earth’s longing for glory. Another example is natural disasters: tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. The earth is behaving in a way in which it was not intended.

• Creation Awaits an Unveiling (v. 19b)

The creation is stretching its neck, looking for a specific event: the unveiling of the sons of God. The sons of God are those who believe in Jesus Christ. We are not able with certainty to distinguish those who believe from those who do not. In Matthew 7 Jesus said that the gate is wide that leads to destruction and narrow that leads to life, and few find the narrow way. We are permitted to judge based on the fruit that people bear, but our judgment can be flawed, and people do change. In Matthew 13, Jesus told and interpreted a parable about an enemy which sowed tares in a farmer’s wheat field. A competitor might do this to a neighbor to eliminate competition. The workers asked the farmer if they should pull up the tares but he said they should allow them to grow together until the harvest, lest they accidentally pull up the wheat also. Jesus interpreted this parable to His disciples, explaining that believers and unbelievers would exist together until the end of the age, then He would send His angels to separate them. Creation longs to know who the sons of God are. When Christ returns every eye will see Him as He descends in the clouds, and everyone will then recognize the believers.

It is ironic that believers would cling to this world while the world eagerly longs for the revealing of the sons of God. It seems foolish that we would love the gold or the beauty of this world and that we would live for these things. As was pointed out last week, C.S. Lewis said, “We are far too easily pleased.” Hebrews 11:24-26 says, “By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Often, we place far too much importance on the fleeting pleasures of this world while we should be longing for the future glory. Believers sometimes act as if exploring what this world has to offer is more important than enjoying eternal glory. 

God put Adam in the garden of Eden and told him to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15) We are to be good stewards of the earth, but we can do nothing to extend its life beyond what God has decreed. 2 Peter 3:10 declares: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” At this moment, life as we know it will end, and the wheat and tares will be separated. But it will be according to God’s timing, not ours.

Today we have people who worship rocks and crystals and trees. One of Satan’s tricks is to cause people to think that we should be at peace with nature, and yet nature is not at peace with itself. Nature is anxiously awaiting its new creation, created in the way  that it was originally intended. Even Satan knows that all of creation is awaiting the revealing of the sons of God. Satan is distracting his followers by hyper focusing and worshiping things that are pointing to glory, things that will be destroyed. 

Another great truth from verse 19 is that we have another glimpse of our coming glory. Our future inheritance is so glorious and so magnificent that the entire planet is longing for believers to be reunited with the Father. Rocks are now waiting to cry out when the sons of God are finally revealed. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 declares, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words." Creation is waiting for Christ to return and unite us with the Father in glory.

• Creation Waits in Subjection (v. 20)

Until the sons of God are revealed the creation waits in subjection. Moral creatures have the ability to willfully sin and place themselves under a curse of God, but the non-moral creation was subjected to futility unwillingly. Being subjected to futility seems like vanity, meaning we can’t see any good purpose in what is happening; it is emptiness. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:2-3, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?” Solomon is essentially saying, you can’t find your purpose in life at the present time - creation is not functioning as intended. God has subjected the earth to a way in which it was not intended. This is part of the curse that God put on the earth when Adam sinned. In Genesis 3: 14-19, God pronounced a curse on animals, a curse on the woman, a curse on the man, and a curse on the earth. At this point, illness, disease, death, hostility, etc. came on the scene. The most significant aspect of the curse was the introduction of death, physical and spiritual.

• Creation Awaits Liberation (vv. 21-22)

Adam’s sin resulted in the entire creation being cursed by God. Currently the creation is in bondage to decay, and it longs for the day when it will be set free, when it obtains the freedom of the glory of the children of God. God is reversing the curse. Ephesians 1:10 states that in the fullness of time, God will unite all things in Jesus; Isaiah 65:17 says that God will create new heavens and a new earth, and in Revelation 21:5, God says that He is making all things new. The creation was subjected to futility in the hope that there would be a restoration. Creation is now stretching its neck, looking for the day when it will be set free from bondage to decay, while still groaning as in the pains of childbirth. Believers are waiting for redemption as well, not in vain but in hope. 

The decay we see in the creation is not by random chance; it is not spinning out of control, it is winding down in a calculated measured way. All things, including the decay, are under the sovereign hand of God. All of this is God working out His plan of salvation, to bring His children back into fellowship with Him. All the pain and anguish and frustration and trials of the planet are under the direct oversight of God. The bondage to corruption continues to proclaim the gospel; it continues to proclaim the truth of Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” We see death all around us, death to humanity, death to the creation, spiritual death, physical death. Creation simply reflects death and serves as a call to repentance and a looking toward the coming glory of God. Creation stands shackled to death now, but it longs for the freedom of the glory of the children of God. The children will be free and the earth will be free. 

As part of His loving grace, God built into the curse at creation an anticipation of the reversal of curse, an eager longing for hope. That is why in verse 22, Paul says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” When a child is conceived in the womb, he/she begins to grow, pains begin then increase until the moment of delivery. The mother knows these pains well. This is the state of creation now, groaning in the universal pains of childbirth. When sin was conceived in Genesis 3, pain came into the world and it will increase until Christ returns, when all things are made new. Even the stars are longing for the revealing of the sons of God. When we gaze at the stars, we stretch our necks and we long for the third heaven where God dwells. We, along with the creation, are longing to be set free from the bondage of sin. The stars are signals, lighthouses pointing to the coming glory, to the time when all things will be set right in the new heavens and a new earth. In light of all this, what should we understand and what should we be doing while we wait for glory? 

a. Pain precedes deliverance!

A.W. Tozer commented on this when he said, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly – until He has hurt him deeply.” All the sufferings we endure, all the trials and tribulations, all the death and decay are designed by God to purge from our mind wrong thinking while forcing us to focus on the glory to come. In Luke 21:28, Jesus encouraged His followers, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." In Romans 8:24-25, Paul explained that we hope for things that are unseen, not for things seen, and we wait patiently. We don’t see the redemption now, but we know for certain it is coming, so we wait patiently.

b. We need only to fear God!

If we understand God’s sovereignty, we don’t need to fear famine, we don’t need to fear war, we don’t need to fear a nuclear holocaust, we don’t need to fear climate change, or any of these things. This doesn’t mean that there won't be suffering but we need not to fear. Humanity is never going to eliminate itself. God alone determines the end of life on the earth. Nothing will bring an end to the earth before God’s time. Hebrews 1:10-12 is clear that God created the heavens and earth; they will perish but God remains the same. 

c. A greater joy awaits!

Jesus used the example of the birth of a child in John 16:21 when He said, “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” When Christ returns the suffering will become a distant memory.

d. Let the Lord find you actively waiting!

Being in prayer is actively waiting. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12) Actively waiting means using our gifts and talents, being involved in the ministry of reconciliation. We actively wait by loving, by serving, by sharing the gospel, by giving, by showing mercy, by showing kindness, by demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit. We actively wait as we prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom. We actively wait as we keep our lamps burning brightly for Him.

Selah:

1. What is your greatest longing? How does your life demonstrate this?

2. How does knowing that suffering is ushering in eternal glory make you more willing to not view suffering as something to be despised? 

3. What is your greatest fear in life? Why this particular fear?